Aftermyths

Více o knize

Aftermyths explores the complexities of literary and visual representation from 1870 to the early twentieth century, highlighting a spectrum from faux essentialism with ethnic nuances to a "cadence of decadence" that mirrors modernity's tensions. The author examines works by Henry James and Mark Twain alongside the cartoon innovations of Rudolf Dirks and Richard Felton Outcault, investigating themes of "decadence," "Americanness," and "Germanness." The use of pastoral language and foreign terms, often seen as archaic, reveals James's intricate discourse, while Twain's struggles with German illustrate a form of liberation rooted in minstrel-like performance and streetwise skepticism. Additionally, key concepts from Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project are applied to New York City post-1920, where figures like Mayor Jimmy Walker and urban planner Robert Moses embody contrasting Dionysian and Apollonian ideals at the nexus of epic, lyric, and drama. Outcault’s "Opera in Ryan's Arcade" highlights the divide between uptown and downtown, high art and low "un-art." The text also revisits Freud's notion of caricature as it relates to Nietzsche's concept of the "not yet determined animal," and draws parallels between two narratives of immortality, Grass's Flounder and Hamill's Forever, before concluding with insights on Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theatre.