Today, Poverty Has Virtually Been Legitimized, Affect- Their Purchases Or Stopped Buying Altogether

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Today, Poverty Has Virtually Been Legitimized, Affect- Their Purchases Or Stopped Buying Altogether personal destiny, lending it expression. expression. it lending destiny, personal crisis, economic the of outcome positive one the is This prices. extravagant demands one values leaving struggle, a without battlefield the cleared have workmanship quality of penny Opera Opera penny - tes 1947 the of recordings archival combining In (1931). Office for Contemporary Art Norway http://canopycanopycanopy.com Norway Art Contemporary for Office but rather looks upon the struggle of his age and his contemporaries as his own most most own his as contemporaries his and age his of struggle the upon looks rather but No economy. poor the of spite in quality artistic support to fortune of soldiers ignorant advocates one-time that shows standards, the set suddenly perspicacity, artistic looking - Three Die! Also Hangmen Brecht’s of adaptation film the and (1943); Wem gehört die Welt? die gehört Wem oder Wampe Kuhle and (1932) : , Brecht’s (1933); be loved all the more if he refuses to adorn himself with the results of earlier civilizations civilizations earlier of results the with himself adorn to refuses he if more the all loved be of herd the to belong not do who and intact remains wealth whose those of duty the is forward- by combated decades for buyers, that fact The spectacle. sad a is been, had never Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse Mabuse Dr. des Testament Das M and (1931) Lang’s Fritz including May he be brave enough to affirm this critical time of transition, and the honest artist will will artist honest the and transition, of time critical this affirm to enough brave be he May It generation. a of viability and vitality the of proof are alone ideas creative These ideas. culture of years twenty-five if as crisis, economic today’s of midst the in resilience lectual format, trial the dramatize that ’40s and 1930s the of films German spoiled by indulgence, spurs the creative and defiant spirit, which believes in the future. future. the in believes which spirit, defiant and creative the spurs indulgence, by spoiled creative of play free the for enthusiasm true suffocating of capable crisis economic no - intel of obliteration the witness To mankind. of process healing spiritual and social the of mance Project, Basel, and Frieze Projects, London. Projects, Frieze and Basel, Project, mance together weaving Leu, by edited video new a is installation the of piece - Perfor LISTE to contributed has Leu Glasgow. SWG3, and Prato; - center The objects. audio-sculptural and recordings archival of tion no longer avail itself of their existence. The economic crisis, so disheartening to those those to disheartening so crisis, economic The existence. their of itself avail longer no is There truth? the for struggle of decades in them from wrested been has it after sphere, part is it as unavoidable, is confrontation This all. to visible and discernible rendered be Entree, Bergen; Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Pecci, Luigi Contemporanea l’Arte per Centro Bergen; Entree, - presenta theatrical a orchestrates Leu touchstones, as jacket leather and leave the final remnants of such beliefs to the scrapheap. For the newborn spirit may may spirit newborn the For scrapheap. the to beliefs such of remnants final the leave and public the in power their regain to clients, undiscerning and unscrupulous equally their issues these that demands and nature, artistic an of issues with confrontation declining the work has been included in exhibitions at the Malmö Konstmuseum; Konstmuseum; Malmö the at exhibitions in included been has work signature and films, screenplays, plays, Brecht’s Using Committee. ties Rome; Vanish, Frankfurt; and Johan Berggren Gallery, Malmö. His His Malmö. Gallery, Berggren Johan and Frankfurt; Vanish, Rome; - Activi Un-American House the before 1947 in appearance Brecht’s might regard his horse. To one’s own human benefit one will rise above these standards standards these above rise will one benefit human own one’s To horse. his regard might by helped manufacturers, picture unscrupulous and cunning allow and surrender Why against protests artist the Moreover, (…) it. in delights who individual human of type the sented solo projects at Dortmund Bodega, Oslo; 1/9 Unosunove, Unosunove, 1/9 Oslo; Bodega, Dortmund at projects solo sented Bertolt playwright German departure of point his as takes Leu to be his guiding principle. A painting ought therefore not be regarded as a horse dealer dealer horse a as regarded be not therefore ought painting A principle. guiding his be to on? passed be must it whom to and preserved be must heritage spiritual a whom for tions, and kitsch against protests artist the Therefore, kitsch. by embodied completely and ly - pre recently has He Frankfurt. Städelschule, the from graduated he moments? political shed sensationalism, but the artist’s surrender to that particular artistic truth that he perceives perceives he that truth artistic particular that to surrender artist’s the but sensationalism, - genera future towards responsibility one’s disown Why age? advancing with insight - ultimate is humanity of manifestation this discrimination: without anything at shooting Per-Oskar Leu (b. 1980) lives and works in Oslo, Norway. In 2009, 2009, In Norway. Oslo, in works and lives 1980) (b. Leu Per-Oskar - water during play artist the should or can role What asks: and fiction personal experience of this critical moment in American history. American in moment critical this of experience personal and truths historical between distance the considers exhibition The embraced by true and honest artistic work are not the result of coquetry or speculative speculative or coquetry of result the not are work artistic honest and true by embraced and knowledge one’s deepen not Why importance. sacred of matter a is that process tive or crisis, of times in towel the in throwing and resilience moral lacking prosperity, of Verfremdungseffekt (“distancing effect”) as it relates to the playwright’s playwright’s the to relates it as effect”) (“distancing Leu. Per-Oskar artist Norwegian by installation audio-sculptural - transforma and formative great that serve to continue and themselves to true remained vented the true and lasting joy about a job well done from taking root. The intimate values values intimate The root. taking from done well job a about joy lasting and true the vented times in parasites wanton like pilfering life, social in or private in structure of modicum Crisis and Critique and Crisis timony with excerpts from period films, Leu investigates the Brechtian Brechtian the investigates Leu films, period from excerpts with timony and video a , present to pleased is Canopy Triple - pre and senses the blurred frenzy a tantamount: but all were value its and art of work have artists these crises, economic and political all despite For loved. they works whose a without irresponsible, and hollow most its at Humanity kitsch. nature: of cization tion of the art market have been caused by these extravagant prices alone. The cost of a a of cost The alone. prices extravagant these by caused been have market art the of tion artists the from lesson poor a learned have they that charge the spared be not shall art - romanti vacuous most and final that to led ultimately responsibility historical and social 155 Freeman Street, Brooklyn, NY NY Brooklyn, Street, Freeman 155 A video and audio-sculptural installation by Per-Oskar Leu Per-Oskar by installation audio-sculptural and video A - demoraliza and injustice real The prices. such pay to ability the has longer any one no that avant-garde of lovers and Collectors ruin. into fall to time our of face the shaped have that of loss the and individualism, exaggerated Ignorance, constructed. was shapes, natural Crisis and Critique and Crisis men unsuccessfully seek work. seek unsuccessfully men extremely dedicated group of people are perfectly capable of overthrowing any state with violence.” with state any overthrowing of capable perfectly are people of group dedicated extremely Kuhle Wampe Wampe Kuhle New Masses New Conspiracy Fascist Street’s is a leftist German film about unemployment in the Weimar Republic. In this scene, unemployed unemployed scene, this In Republic. Weimar the in unemployment about film German leftist a is Eisler. , 1935. , magazine Marxist American the by Published . public health and safety. As Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels stated he would not accept the film as it “showed that an an that “showed it as film the accept not would he stated Goebbels Joseph Propaganda of Minister As safety. and health public Los Angeles. In this still, a Nazi official disrupts a film screening. screening. film a disrupts official Nazi a still, this In Angeles. Los Who Owns the World? the Owns Who or: Wampe Kuhle Welt? die gehört Wem oder: Wampe, Kuhle The Intricate Structure of Wall Wall of Structure Intricate The Opera Threepenny The ), 1932, 71 min., with music by Hanns Hanns by music with min., 71 1932, ), , ( to threat a being for release its of year the film the banned authorities Nazi Mabuse. Dr. mastermind criminal representing American film about Nazi war crimes in Prague is based on real events and was made while Lang and Brecht were exiled in in exiled were Brecht and Lang while made was and events real on based is Prague in crimes war Nazi about film American Spivak, L. John verso: Poster, . play Brecht’s Bertolt by inspired partly Der Fuehrer’s Face Fuehrer’s Der Mabuse Dr. des Testament Das Hangmen Also Die! Also Hangmen M , 1942, 8 min. Right: Still from Slatan Dudow and Bertolt Brecht, Brecht, Bertolt and Dudow Slatan from Still Right: min. 8 1942, , dir., Kinney, Jack from Still Left: Silhouette min. 122 1933, Mabuse), Dr. of Testament (The Lang, Fritz from Still Center: , 1943, 134 min, written by Bertolt Brecht with music by Hanns Eisler.
Recommended publications
  • Analyse Der Filmmusik Zu „Kuhle Wampe Oder Wem Gehört Die Welt“
    Analyse der Filmmusik zu „Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehört die Welt“ Ein Referat im Fach Medienkonzeption 3 von: Mark Heizmann (12144) Hannes Treiber (12310) Simone Liebo (12148) Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Der Film KUHLE WAMPE 3 2. Der Komponist Hanns Eisler 4 3. Allgemeine Ansichten zur Filmmusik von Hanns Eisler 6 4. Der Regisseur Slatan Dudow 7 5. Der Drehbuchautor Bertolt Brecht 8 6. Analyse der Filmmusik 10 6.1. Die Titelmusik: Das Präludium 11 6.2. Die Hetzjagd nach Arbeit: Ein Rondo 13 6.3. Das Solidaritätslied als instrumentales Zitat: Die Fabrik-Sequenz 15 6.4. Schwarzenbergmarsch und Deutsche Kaiserklänge: Inzidenzmusik 16 2 1. Der Film KUHLE WAMPE Der Film KUHLE WAMPE gilt als Klassiker der deutschen proletarischen Filmkunst vor 1933. Es ist ein Episodenfilm, dessen Handlung in Berlin zur Zeit der Weltwirtschaftskrise Anfang der 30iger Jahre spielt. Bertolt Brecht verfasste zusammen mit Ernst Ottwald das Drehbuch, der Regisseur des Films ist Slatan Dudow, die Filmmusik schrieb Hanns Eisler. Der Film entstand in einer Zeit die gekennzeichnet war durch heftige soziale Auseinandersetzungen in Deutschland zwischen der Weltwirtschaftskrise und der Machtergreifung der Nationalsozialisten. Erzählt wird die Liebesgeschichte zwischen der Fabrikarbeiterin Anni und dem Automechaniker Fritz. Annis Familie wird aus der Wohnung geworfen und zieht zu Fritz in die große Zeltsiedlung KUHLE WAMPE, in der viele Arbeitslose leben. Annie wird schwanger, aber Fritz, der seine Junggesellenfreiheit noch nicht aufgeben will, trennt sich von ihr. Während eines großen Arbeitersportfestes, an dem Annie engagiert mitwirkt, treffen sie aufeinander und nähern sich wieder an. Auf der Heimfahrt von dem besagten Sportfest geraten die jungen Arbeiter in der U-Bahn in einen Meinungsstreit mit Bürgern.
    [Show full text]
  • Experimenting with Law: Brecht on Copyright
    Law and Critique https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-019-09256-5 Experimenting with Law: Brecht on Copyright Jose Bellido1 © The Author(s) 2020 Abstract Can one reject copyright law and be a qualifed observer of its dispositives? This question was taken up by Bertolt Brecht in an intriguing essay concerning the litiga- tion surrounding the flm adaptation of The Threepenny Opera (1928). Brecht here develops an experimental observation around the nature of flm adaptation and cul- tural production in copyright. While an experimental approach to law was in itself a subversive gesture, the specifc legal process enabled him to expose the paradoxical ways in which the copyright system worked. Keywords Brecht · Copyright · Experimental knowledge · Film · History of copyright law · Law · Mass media I have always needed the spur of contradiction (Bertolt Brecht) Introduction Copyright scholars often trace a revival of history writing in their discipline to the late 1960s (Deazley et al. 2010, p. 2). Although the study of copyright history dates back signifcantly further, a new focus on historical writing has emerged over the last fve decades as part of an attempt to understand and delineate copyright’s his- torical peculiarities. Much of this revival is rooted into the publication and recep- tion of Michel Foucault’s essay ‘Qu’est-ce qu’un auteur?’ This opened copyright scholarship up to the perspectives of literary scholars concerned with the historicity of authorship and the intersection between law and literature (Woodmansee 1984; Rose 1988). As Bowrey notes, ‘the essay had such an infuence on the literary stud- ies perspective on copyright that it seems to have become a convention respectfully to acknowledge or quote from this piece in opening paragraphs’ (Bowrey 1996, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Epic Cinema: Defining Our Terms
    This is a repository copy of Epic Cinema: Defining our Terms. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/151979/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Koutsourakis, A (Accepted: 2019) Epic Cinema: Defining our Terms. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. ISSN 2578-4900 (In Press) This article is protected by copyright. This is a pre-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available through the University of Texas Press. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Epic Cinema: Defining our Terms For George Kouvaros and Julian Murphet Abstract: Studies in epic cinema have flourished in the past decade, but one senses that scholars take the term to be self-explanatory, without considering its literary origins and the variety of films that can be placed under the rubric of the epic.
    [Show full text]
  • Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-42646-6 — Bertolt Brecht in Context Edited by Stephen Brockmann Index More Information
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-42646-6 — Bertolt Brecht in Context Edited by Stephen Brockmann Index More Information Index Academy of the Arts, xvii, xx, 34, 98, 99, 100, Augsburg, xiii, xviii, 11, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 101, 102 25, 27, 36, 41, 42, 43, 45, 50, 51, 52, 55, 65, 66, Adams, John, works by 131, 151, 183, 191, 202, 327, 328 Dr. Atomic, 218 Austria, xix, xxviii, 89, 156, 218, 340 Adorno, Theodor W., 76–77, 127, 128, 196, 283, 304 Babylon Berlin, 42, 193 African National Congress, 208 Bach, Johann Sebastian, 53, 196 Agami, Danielle, 220 Bach, Johann Sebastian, works by agitprop, 40, 60, 160, 161, 164, 196, St. Matthew Passion, 53 209, 263 Bachmann, Ingeborg, 156 AIDS, 215 Bacon, Francis, works by A-I-Z, 135, 138 The New Organon, 27 Akiho, Andy, 219 Baden-Baden, 193, 197 Alberts, Jürgen, works by Baden-Baden Music Festival, xviii, 54, 159, 195 Hitler in Hollywood: Looking for the Ideal Badiou, Alain, works by Script, 275 Five Lessons on Wagner, 194 Allert de Lange (publishing house), 94 Bai Juyi, 184, 185 Allfree, Claire, 318 Banholzer, Paula, xviii, 22, 23 Altefrohne, Silke, 286 Bänkelsang, 22 Althusser, Louis, 128 Bantu People’s Theatre, 210 Amette, Jacques-Pierre, works by Barnett, David, 220, 293 Brecht’s Mistress, 276 Barthes, Roland, 128, 129, 331 Amin, Idi, 207 Baum, Kurt, 210 Amsterdam, 89 Bausch, Pina, xvi, 163 andcompany&Co., 288 Bautzen Festival, 307 André, Naomi, 221, 222 Bavaria, xviii, 22, 24, 275 anti-fascism, 10, 44, 45, 91, 92, 151, 160, 204, 228, Baxter Theatre, 215 242, 259 Bayreuth Festival, 53, 54, 218, 219 anti-Semitism, 71 BBC, 206 Archer, Robyn, xxvi Beaton, Alistair, 323 Arendt, Hannah, 278 Bebel, August, 203 Aristotle, 8, 28, 152, 270 Becher, Johannes R., 63, 71, 92, 102, 197 Armstrong, Louis, 6 Becher, Johannes R., works by Arons, Wendy, xxvii Winter Battle, 63, 83 Arribas, Sonia, 167 Beckett, Samuel, 163, 228 Artaud, Antonin, xxv, 163, 228, 253 Beckmann, Max, 34 Ashcroft, Peggy, 205, 206 Bel, Jérôme, 286 Auden, W.
    [Show full text]
  • A Discussion of the Role of Epic Music in Bertolt Brecht's Plays. Mphil(R) Thesis
    Rambo-Hood, Markee H. (2009) What a difficult task it is for music to fulfil the demands of an epic theatre: a discussion of the role of epic music in Bertolt Brecht's plays. MPhil(R) thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2298/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] What a Difficult Task it is for Music to Fulfil the Demands of an Epic Theatre: a Discussion of the Role of Epic Music in Bertolt Brecht‟s Plays. By Markee H. Rambo-Hood Master of Philosophy University of Glasgow: Faculty of Arts and Humanities Theatre Studies Submitted September 2009 © Markee H. Rambo-Hood, September 2009 I would like to thank my advisors Anselm Heinrich and Vicky Price for all of their feedback, knowledge and confidence in my ability to complete this research. Their support has allowed me to grow and exceed past my own expectations. I would also like to thank Stefani Walens for her encouragement, amazing piano skills and for introducing me to Weill and Brecht.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Chapter 1 Introduction “Brecht is a difficult phenomenon...”1 On February 27, 1933 the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parlia- ment in Berlin, was set ablaze in what was alleged to be a communistic plot to unsettle the German government. Marxist playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, a shrewd political observer, accurately anticipated the violent and re- pressive response by the Nazis and the following day fled Germany with his wife, Jewish actor Helen Weigel and their two children. Brecht was only thir- ty-five at the time but had already established himself as an important literary figure gaining notoriety for widely acclaimed and commercially successful productions like Baal which premiered in 1923 and The Threepenny Opera which premiered in 1928. Brecht’s introduction to Marxism came in the middle part of the 1920’s. In 1926, Brecht wrote, “it was only when I read Lenin’s State and Revolution (!) and then Marx’s Kapital that I understood, philosophically, where I stood” (Brecht, et. al. 2003: 35). By the early 1930’s Brecht had established what would become long lasting and intimate friendships with prominent German Marxists. These friendships included ones with critical theorist, Walter Ben- jamin, novelist Bernard von Brentano, composers, Kurt Weill (who he collaborated with on The Threepenny Opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and other projects) and Hanns Eisler (who he collaborated with on The Measures Taken, The Mother, Kuhle Wampe and other projects) and the influential philosopher Karl Korsch whose discussion groups and classes Brecht attended. 1 Benjamin 1973: 27.
    [Show full text]
  • Brecht and Cabaret
    3 OLIVER DOUBLE AND MICHAEL WILSON Brecht and cabaret One of the most popular anecdotes about Brecht’s early years in Munich involves a significant encounter with the popular comedian Karl Valentin (1882–1948). In October 1922, following on from the success the previous month of the première of Drums in the Night at the Munich Kammerspiele, Brecht was appointed to the dramaturgical team of the theatre and was immediately given the task of rewriting and adapting Marlowe’s Edward II. The writing took place over the winter of 1922/3, but the eight-week rehearsal period, then the longest in the Kammerspiele’s history, did not start until January 1924. In one of his conversations with the essayist and critic Walter Benjamin on 29 June 1938, Brecht told the story of how ‘the idea of Epic Theatre first came into his head’ at one of these rehearsals: The battle in the play is supposed to occupy the stage for three-quarters of an hour. Brecht couldn’t stage manage the soldiers, and neither could Asya [Lacis], his production assistant. Finally he turned in despair to Karl Valentin, at that time one of his closest friends, who was attending the rehearsal, and asked him: ‘Well, what is it? What’s the truth about these soldiers? What about them?’ Valentin: ‘They’re pale, they’re scared, that’s what!’ The remark settled the issue, Brecht adding: ‘They’re tired.’ Whereupon the soldiers’ faces were thickly made up with chalk, and that was the day the production’s style was determined.1 A few years later, Brecht himself wrote a version of the same story in The Messingkauf Dialogues: ‘When the Augsburger was producing his first play, which included a thirty minutes’ battle, he asked Valentin what he ought to do with the soldiers.
    [Show full text]
  • Coversheet for Thesis in Sussex Research Online
    A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details ‘A Film Should Be Like a Stone in Your Shoe’: A Brechtian Reading of Lars von Trier Angelos Koutsourakis DPhil University of Sussex July 2011 i I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature............................ ii University of Sussex Angelos Koutsourakis DPhil English Literature. ‘A Film Should Be Like a Stone in Your Shoe’: A Brechtian Reading of Lars von Trier. Abstract This central premise of this thesis is that Lars von Trier is a political director. Through a detailed formal analysis of five films I proceed to discuss the political implications of form, something that has not been acknowledged by scholarship so far. In this thesis, I employ Brecht as a methodological tool so as to discuss the shift from a dialectical cinema devoted to the production of knowledge effects, to a post-Brechtian one that brings together points of tension that remain unresolved.
    [Show full text]
  • Hanns Eisler and His Hollywood Songbook: a Survey of the Five Elegies (Fünf Elegien) and the Hölderlin Fragments (Hölderlin­Fragmente)
    Hanns Eisler and His Hollywood Songbook: A Survey of the Five Elegies (Fünf Elegien) and the Hölderlin Fragments (Hölderlin­Fragmente) D.M.A. DOCUMENT Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Stanley E. Workman, Jr., B.M., M.M. Graduate Program in Music The Ohio State University 2010 D.M.A. Document Committee: Dr. Robin Rice, Advisor Professor Loretta Robinson Dr. C. Patrick Woliver Copyright by Stanley Edward Workman, Jr. 2010 Abstract Hanns Eisler, (1898‐1962), remains today as one of the most fascinating and controversial composers of the Twentieth‐Century. Schooled in the aesthetic style of the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg, Eisler made an ideological shift in the trajectory of his musical career in the mid‐1920’s, shifting the emphasis away from ‘art music’ to music for the Worker’s Movement. Enormously versatile, Eisler then found himself working in various genres, from the writing of ‘agitprop’ style ballads and choruses, the Lehrstücke collaborations with friend and colleague Bertolt Brecht, and to the composing of film scores for many documentary and Leftist film producers. When the Worker’s Movement was disbanded with the oncoming of Hitler in 1933, Eisler, now an exile, once again returned to more conventional musical forms such as the Symphony and the Art Song. It is during this exile period in both Europe and the U.S.A. that Eisler composed some of his greatest works, such as the Deutsche Sinfonie, the chamber work Fourteen Ways of Describing Rain, and the Hollywood Songbook (Das Hollywooder Liederbuch), to name just a few.
    [Show full text]
  • Bertolt Brecht
    1898/1978 BERTOLT BRECHT Samik Bandyopadhyay 'Truth is concrete', a quotation from Hegel, was chosen as the slogan for Bertolt Brecht 80, the comprehensive celebration organized in Calcutta last September by .the Max Mueller Bhavan, Calcutta and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations . The co-ordinators inducted into the project and the Max Mueller Bhavan team said in a note they prepared on the ·occasion, 'Indian productions of Brecht's plays have sometimes exposed merely the limitations or idiosyncrasies of the producers themselves. But in most cases, producers have tried to remove the barriers of language a nd setting and make Brecht more accessible and relevant to a n Indian audience. Their attempts have provoked questions as to whether the changes were unavoid­ able.' The programme as a whole sought to accumulate a massive collection of materials that could equip theatre audiences and theatre workers alike with the background to answer these questions themselves. 37 The celebration had a quiet beginning with a series of four lectures by Dr. Alokeranjan Dasgupta of the Heidelberg University on the poetry, working diaries, and songs of Brecht, and an overview of changing interpreta­ tions of Brecht in international theatre, especially in Italy, the Soviet Union, England, the · Scandinavian countries and Portugal. Dr. Dasgupta identified three different phases in Brecht's poetry-the phase of Die Hausposti/le in which Brecht substitutes the Gebrauchslyrik, the lyric that is useful to man, for the Gedankenlyrik, the pure emotional
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    1 Introduction Revisiting Brecht and Cinema One of the most abused critical terms we have is “Brechtian.” —Jonathan Rosenbaum • IVEN THAT BERTOLT BRECHT’S dealings with cinema were only intermittent, resulting in comparatively few films and writings Gon the medium, the ubiquity of his name in film criticism is astounding. One encounters it in discussions of practitioners as diverse as the Brothers Taviani (Padre Padrone [Father and Master; 1977], La notte di San Lorenzo [The Night of the Shooting Stars; 1982]), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Tropical Malady [2004], Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [2010]), and Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! [1965], Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens [1979]), and throughout the decades spanned by their careers. The continued and varied relevance of Brecht for film practice and theory has been joined by an increasing breadth of meanings that Brecht’s name connotes, the fact that inspired Rosenbaum’s quote above. This book at once narrows the term “Brechtian,” so as to help enhance the scientific rigor of Brecht-inflected film scholarship, and expands it, so as to reflect the diversity of ways in which Brecht has impacted cinema. 1 © 2017 State University of New York Press, Albany SP_JOV_Ch01_01-032.indd 1 1/6/17 10:28 AM 2 Brechtian Cinema The term “Brechtian” can have at least three broad meanings in the context of theater and film studies. The most obvious of these is histori- cal: a play by Brecht is Brechtian just as King Lear is a Shakespearean play. The least ambiguous sense of the adjective, this is also the least common of the three.
    [Show full text]
  • 201029 Fullilove Bertolt Brecht's America
    Prof. Courtney Fullilove Bertolt Brecht’s America Winter 2021 Wesleyan University HIST### Bertolt Brecht’s America Prof. Courtney Fullilove [email protected] +19176046154 (WhatsApp) Student/Office hours: By appointment, MW 2-3:30 PM EST, via Zoom: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/8079060719 Meeting ID: 807 906 0719 Photo: Bertolt Brecht in NYC, Ruth Berlau 1946 (?) Course Description: The German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht was a passionate student and critic of American society, before and after his exile in the United States during World War II. This course engages Bertolt Brecht’s writings about the United States as a device for studying the history of American economy and society. Brecht’s studies of Karl Marx’s writings informed his interpretation of the plight of the industrial working class, while his vision of epic theater made American history into a morality play on a grand scale. In exile following the rise of the Third Reich, Brecht produced mordant observations on his life in California, which was then home to a flowering of Marxist cultural criticism. He eventually returned to East Berlin in 1947, after being interrogated by the the House Un-American Activities Committee, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s vehicle of Cold War anti-communism. Brecht’s politics, and his incessant imagination of the virtues and vices of social and economic life, render him a charismatic guide to nineteenth and twentieth century American history. His personal history in exile renders him a witness and an object of American political culture. A selection of Brecht’s plays, poetry, and film collaborations, including The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1927/1930), St.
    [Show full text]