Associated University Presses
Abstraction and the classical ideal, 1760-1920.
Revising his doctoral dissertation for the University of Texas-Austin (no date noted), Cramer (art history, Suffolk U., Massachusetts) describes how the concepts generally considered very different, if not actually opposites, were in fact closely related during the period he considers. He argues that abstraction was a route to the classical ideal, and that idealization was a route to abstract art. The reproductions are in black and white. Distributed in the US by Associated University Presses. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Beyond books and borders; Garcilaso de la Vega and La Florida del Inca.
Chang-Rodríguez (Hispanic literature and culture, City U. of New York) assembles eight studies from an interdisciplinary symposium held in November of 2003 at the City College and the Graduate Center of the City U. of New York as part of the fourth centennial of the 1605 publication of La Florida del Inca by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. Two additional papers are included, as well as 55 related photos, maps, and illustrations, and a chronology. The studies examine the book, which was a chronicle of Hernando de Soto's expedition to the territory known as La Florida, and its context, ideology, publication and edition, and the author's depiction of historical events. Contributors are scholars of history, Spanish, literature, and other fields and are based in the US and Spain. The book is aimed at those in art, anthropology, history, literature, and colonial, cultural, and transatlantic studies. Distributed by Associated University Presses. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The end of the world as a work of art; a Western story.
Essayist Argullol (humanities, U. Pompeu Fabra) expresses his personal form of existentialism while defying genres in this rumination on why certain influential figures (such as St. John of Patmos, Wagner and Hitler) are attracted to the simulation of Armageddon as a means of social, cultural or political influence, while still regarding the Armageddons they create as works of art. Argullol also covers the idea of "stigma," the human attraction to the void, and the character of Faust as symbol for the human condition. Some will say these are poems rather than essays, and fiction rather than non-fiction, a situation which Argullol seems to have encouraged and cultivated in this petit récit. Which Argullol argues is not at all Apocalyptic in and of itself. Distributed by Associated University Presses. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Enter at your own risk; the dangerous art of Dennis Cooper.
Dennis Cooper has been both praised and censured for his creation of an outlaw textuality that illuminates the hidden or repressed extremities of the late 20th-century American zeitgeist. Lev (Romance languages, Bridgewater State College) has assembled a roster of internationally acclaimed scholars, writers, filmmakers and artists, including John Waters and William Burroughs, to discuss Cooper's work in the context of transgressive literature and arts, subjectivity and aesthetics. The book is distributed by Associated University Presses. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Jacques-Louis David; new perspectives.
David (1748-1825) dominated the French art scene for 40 years yet died in exile. In the context of the social/political upheavals during his lifetime, Johnson (art and art history, U. of Iowa) introduces 11 essays by non-French scholars offering diverse perspectives on his neoclassical art, relationship to the Revolution, and legacy. E.g., despite the fact that David was a product of his highly gendered times, one contributor focuses on his paintings honoring real and mythological women and his relatively enlightened views on female artists. The volume includes a chronology and previously unpublished notes, in French and English translation, for a David biography by a contemporary sculptor-writer. Alas, none of the many illustrations are in color. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Meeting movies.
Holland interprets eight films — Casablanca, Vertigo, The Seventh Seal, Freud, Persona, Children of Paradise, Shakespeare in Love, and 8 1/2 — and provides personal readings of them, rather than more general intellectual critiques, and in doing so, discusses themes and his own experiences with them. The films were chosen through free association. Holland, (U. of Florida) a psychological critic, is the author of many books and articles, an international lecturer, and editor of the journal PsyArt. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
