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Home , Edward James, If You Please, Jacqueline Lamba

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COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, SPRING 2008 COLT 480 T. AND THURS. 12:30—1:50 T.H.H 121

PROF. GLORA ORENSTEIN OFFICE: T.H.H 174 VOICE MAIL: 740—0100 E-MAIL: [email protected]

In this course we will explore the Dada and Surrealist Movements in the arts. We will focus on each movement’s aesthetic philosophy and stylistic and conceptual innovations as they manifested in a variety of artistic media: poetry, film, fiction, theatre, , manifestos, happenings, and contemporary Neo-Dada and Neo surrealist literary and visual creations.

Concepts and forms such as The Marvelous, Automatic Writing, Objective Chance (synchronicity), Black Humor, the Found Object, The Dream Object, The Exquisite Corpse, The Surrealist Object, The Surrealist Image, The Surrealist Game, The Happpening, The Dream Narrative, Communicating Vessels, Paranoic Critical Creations, Frottage, Surrealist Collage, The One in The Other, Panic Theatre/Ephemeras, and many other artistic techniques will be elucidated as they articulate the “convulsive beauty” of Dada and Surrealist art and writing internationally. The women of Surrealism, their work in art and literature, will be a major focus of the course.

There is one important aspect of the course that I would like to stress. Throughout the semester I would like you to search the web and establish an extensive file on either Dadists or Surrealists in a country of your choice. Print out a collection of information on contemporary dada or surrealist artists in your selected country or region, and be prepared to hand in this collection on the last day of class. It will take the form of a Class Presentation and it may be the Field Work component of your final research paper/project. The final 2 paper/project will be composed of library research and a Field Work component. By Field Work I mean visits to exhibits relevant to your topic, interviews with surrealists via the internet or via snail mail, and other activities relating to your topic that are not based on library research.

As you will see from the syllabus, throughout the semester I will ask you to sign up for presentations from anthologies and other books on multiple artists and writers. These presentations will all be a part of the 10% I have assigned for activities. Whenever possible we will participate in games, a surrealist fashion show, and verbal or visual exercises that inspired the Dadaists and the Surrealists.

If you are interested in doing a Surrealist Game for the Web, we can arrange for you to consult with someone in the Media Lab, and we can have it put on the USC YouTube---Let me know if this is what you want to do for your final project. You can accompany this creation by a paper explaining the game and its relation to Surrealism as we have studied it.

This course will have a Midterm and a Final Paper/Project. Each will count 40%. Class participation in surrealist activities and presentations will count another 10% and reports on outside research and readings will count another 10%. The Final/Project is to be handed in on the last day of the semester. Other deadlines will be announced during the semester.

Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP). A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered as early in the semester as possible. DSP is in the Student Union 301. Their Phone No. is 213-740-0776.

BOOKS, SCREENPLAYS, AND DVDS FOR THE COURSE:

1. THE MANIFESTOS OF SURREALISM By Andre Breton 2. SEVEN DADA MANIFESTOS By AND LAMPISTERIES 3. THE THEATRE AND ITS DOUBLE By 3

4. THE HEARING TRUMPET By 5. UBU ROI By 6. SURREALIST WOMEN: AN INTERNATIONAL ANTHOLOGY Ed. By Penelope Rosemont 7. SURREALIST ART By Sarane Alexandrian 8. DADA: ART AND ANTI-ART By Hans Richter 9. By Andre Breton 10. WOMEN ARTISTS AND THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT By Whitney Chadwick 11. SCREENPLAY OF CHIEN ANDALOU By Dali and Bunuel 12. DVDS: To be shown to the class throughout the semester: Avant-Garde Cinema: Films by Desnos, Leger, Duchamp, Short films of Jan Svankmejer and ALICE by Jan Svankmejer Film on Andre Breton’s Bureau and Art Collection Film on Film on Leonora Carrington Film on Edward James Film Film : Germany Dada Films on: Miro, Magritte, Dali, Duchamp Film on: Tanguy Film on: Desnos Film on: Alain Glass

There will be a variety of handouts, and I will set up a little library shelf in my office for you to consult. There are many other topics in Dada and Surrealism that I urge you to explore if you read foreign languages—especially Surrealist poetry, or if you focus on international relations and politics, you can pursue the field of Surrealism and Politics. There are many avant-garde filmmakers for those of you who major in cinema—including some recent Czeck Republic cineastes.

APPROXIMATE CALENDAR Tues. Jan. 15 Introduction to the course

Thurs. Jan. 17 DADA : Introduction to the Movement 4

Assigning: DADA: ART AND ANTI ART and THE 7 DADA MANIFESTOS

Tues. Jan. 22 SEVEN DADA MANIFESTOS : Read The Manifestos for Class.

Thurs. Jan. 24 Film: GERMANY DADA

Tues. Jan. 29 DADA: ART AND ANTI-ART PARTS 1,2,3,4 Through the Hanover Period Thurs. Jan 31 DADA: ART AND ANTI-ART Parts 5,6,7,8 Through Neo-Dada

Tues. Feb . 5 DADA THEATRE: UBU ROI By Alfred Jarry. Handouts: “The Breasts of Tiresias” Apollinaire “The Wedding on The Eiffel Tower” By Cocteau “The Gas Heart” by T. Tzara “ ” By Breton and Soupault Thurs. Feb. 7 Lecture on The Surrealist Movement

Tues. Feb. 12 THE MANIFESTOES OF SURREALISM By Andre Breton

Thurs. Feb. 14 THE SURREALIST NOVEL Lecture

Tues. Feb. 14 NADJA By Andre Breton

Thurs. Feb. 16 THE HEARING TRUMPET By Carrington

Tues. Feb. 19 Films on Leonora Carrington & Claude Cahun

Thurs. Feb. 21 SURREALIST WOMEN WRITERS First three sections CLASS PRESENTATIONS

Tues. Feb. 26 SURREALIST WOMEN WRITERS Last Three sections CLASS PRESENTATIONS

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Thurs. Feb. 28 SURREALIST FILM: CHIEN ANDALOU, AVANT-GARDE FILMS BY \DESNOS, MAN RAY, from DVD: Experimental Cinema of the 1920’s And 30’s. Short Films of Svankmejer, DVD

Tues. Mar. 4 Surrealist Film: Start reading Filmscripts

Thurs. March 6 CHIEN ANDALOU AND L’AGE D’OR

Tues. March 11 Tues. March 21 SURREALIST ART By S. ALEXANDRIAN Thurs. March 13 ART REPORTS IN CLASS; MAGRITTE DALI, ERNST, FINI, VARO, KAHLO, MIRO, TANNING, BELLMER, LAM ETC. Tues. March 17— NO CLASSES Thurs. March 22 SPRING RECESS

Tues. March 25 SURREALIST THEATRE: A. ARTAUD THE THEATRE AND ITS DOUBLE

Thurs. March 27 POST-DADA HAPPENINGS AND PANIC EPHEMERA

Tues. April 1 SURREALISM AND FASHION Handouts from SURREALISM And FASHION . Come to Class in Your Surrealist Creations Or bring Designer Examples of your SURREALIST CLOTHING LINE Tell us about your creations > Handouts On fashion (for inspiration) will be given out in class beforehand.

Thurs. April 3 SURREALIST GAMES: We will play the Surrealist Games The One in The Other, Le Cadavre 6

Exquis, Automatic Writing, and we will create some DADA poems, so Bring a text to cut up word by word (or already cut up) and a scissors.

Tues. April 8 Latin American Surrealism—Slide Lecture on Bridget Tichenor. Special Journals on Surrealism in Mexico: Box Art Genre: Examples of the Work of Alain Glass and Joseph Cornell compared.

Thurs. April 10, Film on Alan Glass and presentation

Tues. April 15 RARE FILM FESTIVAL: Films Produced by Aube Elleouet, Andre Breton’s daughter on: Desnos

Thurs. April 17 Jacqueline Lamba, artist and Aube’s Mother--

Tues. April 22 —all produced by Aube

Thurs. April 24 I’ll be away at the Comp. Lit. conference

Tues. April 29 Presentation of research projects.

Thurs. May 1 LAST DAY OF CLASS. Presentations continued and GENERAL WRAP-UP OF SEMESTER.