Sandrine Lefebvre used Moovly to make this video addressing the role of language in Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable.
In his third project, Ahmed El Sabbagh filmed himself as three participants in a conversation about Mulk Raj Anand's representation of the caste system in his novel Untouchable. In his third project, Jatin Nanda created this video envisioning Stephen Dedalus's arrival in Paris following his decision to leave Ireland at the close of James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. For their final blog postings this term, the students had the opportunity to visit the Cézanne and the Modern Exhibition at the High Museum in Atlanta. With permission, I have reproduced a student's response to the assignment and photographs in this posting. Here is the blog posting assignment: Cézanne had a great influence on modernism and the writers whom we read. The painting of Virginia Woolf by her sister, Vanessa Bell, depicted here, for instance, was inspired by Cézanne. How do we contemplate the significance of an original painting when we can see images of it in books or online? In “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1936), Walter Benjamin asked a similar question at a time when photography and film were increasing in prominence. In your blog postings, consider Benjamin’s theories in relation to the paintings that you see. Benjamin, for instance, argues that the “aura” of an original work of art includes the ways that the original object changes: “that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art” (221). How does seeing the original alter your sense of more widely available digital images of it? How do you understand well-known images differently after seeing less familiar original paintings? Benjamin observes that “in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced” (221). In your blog posting, select one painting to address in depth and, if possible, include an image of it (it may be one that you locate online). Take note of the exhibition caption addressing the painting, write it down and analyze its contents in your posting. You should also analyze the display of your painting and its relation to the exhibition as a whole. In addition, consider such aspects as the overall design of the exhibition, organization of space, elements of mood and tone, order, display, size, and organization of the paintings, and the presence and behavior of other viewers. Does the exhibition have a sense of narrative? Are the paintings organized chronologically or thematically? Are there many paintings on each wall, or do some walls feature fewer or a single painting? What is the impact of these choices? What arguments does the exhibition make about Cézanne and modernism? What effect do these elements have on the ways that viewers make meaning? In your response you should also make a connection to at least one text or concept we have addressed this term. Work Cited Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1968. Print. Cézanne Exhibit by Mandy Salmon "Paul Cézanne French, 1839-1906 Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1904-1906 Oil on canvas Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation, on long-term loan to the Princeton University Art Museum. Between 1904 and 1906, Cézanne painted numerous views of Mont Saint-Victoire, the imposing mountain that rises in splendid isolation about the plains outside Aix-en-Provence. He had a magnificent view of it from near his last studio, build in 1902 on the Chemin des Lauves, a hillside road across the valley from the mountain. Cézanne often painted outdoors, and he frequently walked higher up the road for yet another view. Nearly all of Cezanne’s views of Mont Saint-Victoire are horizontal. Here the vertical canvas accommodates a deep landscape of superposed bands, the sky above the mountain is reduced, creating solidity and stability that suggest this is one of the last views in the series, painted when Cezanne had fully master the motif." Going to the High Museum was an experience in bringing to life Walter Benjamin’s extract, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” The physical visit elucidated the many ways that seeing the original is nothing like seeing replications. For instance, as shown in the photographs below, there is a vast difference between large, commercialized replications and actually visiting a piece of artwork, and observing the reactions and contemplations of those around it. The caption of the painting itself, reprinted above, shows the importance of viewing art in a museum: its location, surrounded by other works from the same artist, can shed light on the development and progress of the artist, and help the viewer understand the image as a greater part of the whole. The placement of each of the pieces, as well, slightly reflects the paintings’ acclaim: the most familiar and famous piece, the piece chosen to represent the entire exhibition, was prominently placed in the one of the first viewable areas of the room, as a subtle reminder to its importance. The exhibition makes the argument that Cézanne and modernism represented a dynamic and progressive art, quite unlike the stagnant photographic representations shown online and in books.
Additionally, seeing Cézanne’s artwork among that of other artists helped highlight the differences of each person’s work, as well as solidifying the concept of modernism. The paintings were strongly reminiscent of Jean Rhys’ Good Morning Midnight, not only because the vast majority of the artists were connected to Paris, but also because each represented the inexplicable, streaming, vague thoughts characteristic of the book and the modernist period as a whole. Cézanne himself seemed to agree with Benjamin that “unmistakably, reproduction as offered by picture magazines and newsreels differs from the image seen by the unarmed eye. Uniqueness and permanence are as closely linked in the latter as are transitoriness and reproducibility in the former” (Benjamin). A quote by Cézanne on the wall of the exhibition offers evidence of his agreement: “I wanted to make of Impressionism something solid and enduring, like art in museums.” (High Museum). Although this statement is paradoxical, considering the definition of impressionism as depicting a brief, specific moment, Cézanne’s statement successfully summarizes the theme of Benjamin’s work: that art is more than just an arrangement of colors on a page; it is the all-encompassing experience, surrounding, and history of a work, of an actual copy of a work in a museum, that leaves an enduring impression on the minds of its viewers. Works Cited Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1968. Print. High Museum. “Paul Cézanne.” Atlanta: High Museum, 2014. Exhibition caption. The word frequency in each chapter of James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Generated by Voyant. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Assignment:
Working in pairs, today you will compose at least two annotations (per pair) of Chapter 4 of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man on the website LitGenius. You can view earlier chapters for examples. Assignment: Compose at least three tweets analyzing the language of Part II of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man using the hashtag #GlobalJoyce. You can use an existing account or create a new one with a pseudonym.
Map of second third of Part I of Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight (1938) by Jerry Fang, Melat Hagos, and Paras Jain.
Part 1 of Nella Larsen's Passing (1929) by Shan Denman, Molly Butler, and Scott Berry. Part 3 by Andrew Fluevog, Rania Glass, and Annie Grohovsky. Images from map presentation of Passing Part 3 by Sandrine Lefebvre, Zhe Li, and Chang Liu. |
English 1102
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