Schedule for FR 443 (ENGL 461, CWL 471) -- France and Modernist Magazines: International Publishing Networks and the Avant-Garde

Download Full Syllabus (PDF)

 

Week 1: Modernism, Magazines

 T 1/18

How should we read magazines? Introduction to the Modernist Journals Project (http://modjourn.org) and literary modernism. Wyndham Lewis on the page.

 Th 1/20
  • “Modernity and the Rise of Modernism: A Review” in SW, pp. 26-43

Spend some time “thumbing through” or searching magazines in the MJP. Come prepared to talk about how you moved around in the magazines, to share some general impressions, and to indicate one interesting example (note the issue and page #) to share onscreen in class. In what ways do the magazines you looked at reflect modernity or modernism?

 

Week 2: Modernism and Periodical Studies

 T 1/25
  • “Ezra Pound: Founder of Modern Periodical Studies” in SW, pp. 1-25
 Th 1/27
 

Week 3: Reading Periodicals

 T 2/1

We will meet in the classroom and then proceed to the Rare Books and Manuscripts unit in the Main Library (room 346). Chatham Ewing will give us a presentation and show original copies of Blast and The Little Review. We will then return to the classroom to discuss the Bornstein reading and your blog posts.

 Th 2/3
  • "How to Study a Modern Magazine" (SW)
  • Find items of interest in Blast and The New Age. Add them to the timeline and be prepared to discuss in class.
 

Week 4: France and the Anglophone World in Early Modernism

 T 2/8
 Th 2/10
  • Find items of interest in La Nouvelle Revue Française (Main Stacks - 840.5 NO) and any pre-war magazines in the (MJP). Add them to the timeline and be prepared to discuss in class.
  • Due: Blog post (2-3 paragraphs) on some aspect of British-French relations in pre-war magazines.
 

Week 5: France and the Anglophone World in Early Modernism

 T 2/15
 Th 2/17
  • Due: Project 1 – Small-group collaborative essays on several discourses pertaining to French literature or France in pre-war magazines. In-class presentations of 5-10 minutes from each group.
 

Week 6: Modernism and Commercial Culture

 T 2/22
  • “Modernism's Other: The Art of Advertising” in SW, pp. 118-142
  • Take a good close read of the two issues of Blast for its use of advertising rhetoric and typographical strategies. Come to class prepared to discuss the ramifications of these for its avant-garde aesthetic.
 Th 2/24
  • Look through any magazines at the (MJP) or in the Library reserves between 1900-1918 for their display of advertisements. Be sure to add items into the timeline and tag them. If you use a print source, please photograph it and upload to your blog post (see below).
  • Due: Blog post (2 paragraphs) on an interesting case where an advertisement does (or does not) bear a relationship to the literary or artistic content. What differences (if any) do you see in advertising strategy between British and French magazines?
 

Week 7: Modernism and Commercial Culture

 T 3/1
 Th 3/3
  • Due: Blog post (2 paragraphs) on how marketing strategies differ between either The Egoist or The Little Review and one other French or English magazine in the (MJP) or Library reserves. Take flashless photos and add them to your blog post.
 

Week 8: WWI

 T 3/8
 Th 3/10
 

Week 9: WWI

 T 3/15
 Th 3/17
  • Due: Project 2 – Small group collaborative essays on war or commercial culture between 1900-1919. In-class presentations of 5-10 minutes from each group.
 

Week 10: Post-War Paris: Exile, Pilgrimage, Networking

 T 3/29
  • Chapters from Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Company (D): “Palais Royale,” “A Bookshop of My Own,” “Pilgrims from America,” “The Silver Ship,” “Jules Romains and the Copains,” “Notre Cher Gide,” “Successor to Ulysses”
  • Due: Blog post (1-2 paragraphs): How do the selections from Beach's memoir inform our discussion of print culture networks so far?
 Th 3/31
  • “'On or About December 1910'” (SW)
  • Bring your laptops, with batteries fully charged: In-class exercise -- gardening the timeline and the course website taxonomy.
  • We will use the rest of this meeting to start developing research topics for the final project.
 

Week 11: Magazines, Visual Art, and Interlingual Experiment: The 1920s

 T 4/5
  • “Modernism in the Magazines: The Case of Visual Art” in SW, pp. 73-117
  • Look at Aesthete 25, Dada, Blindman, any other magazines in the (IDA), and art or art criticism in transition (on reserve at Main stacks circulation desk -- call no. 805 TR). Add items to timeline and be prepared to discuss in class.
  • Due: Blog post (2 paragraphs) on the nature and the use of art in anglophone and/or francophone magazines.
 Th 4/7
  • Bring your laptops, with batteries fully charged: In-class exercise -- network analysis with Gephi. Please watch the video at the Gephi website and install the software on your laptop before class. Email me if you have any trouble.
 

Week 12: Magazines, Visual Art, and Interlingual Experiment: The 1920s and 1930s

 T 4/12
  • Look at transition no. 15 (Winter 1929, call # 805 TR at the Main Stacks) for Man Ray's visual art and criticism, as well as James Joyce's "Continuation of a Work in Progress." Be sure to look at some other numbers of transition to get a good feel for the magazine. It's very rich, so spend plenty of time with it.
  • Watch Man Ray's short film (15 mins) L'Étoile-de-Mer (1928).
  • Due: Blog post (2 paragraphs) on how Man Ray's film and his content in transition relate to other discourses there.
 Th 4/14
  • Bring your laptops, with batteries fully charged: In-class exercise -- network analysis with Gephi.
 

Week 13: Magazines, Visual Art, and Interlingual Experiment: The 1930s

 T 4/19
  • Look at the installment of James Joyce's “Continuation of A Work In Progress” and language poetry in transition no. 15. Find similar linguistic experiments in other numbers of transition and French or English magazines. Add items to timeline and be prepared to discuss in class.
 Th 4/21
  • NO CLASS
  • Due: Project 3 – There are a couple of options to choose from, including:

    (a) An individual essay on visual art and/or linguistic experiment in 1920s/1930s magazines. (4-5 paragraphs)
    (b) An individual essay based in network graphs on some topic of your choosing. (4-5 paragraphs, plus visuals)
    (c) A draft, outline, or fragment of your term paper. (as much as you've got)

  • Be sure to comment on at least one other item, especially if it has none yet.
 

Week 14: Magazines in the Archive: The Informatics of Storage and Analysis

 T 4/26
  • “The Hole in the Archive and the Study of Modernist Magazines” (SW)
 Th 4/28
  • “Rethinking Modernist Magazines: From Genres to Database” (SW)
 

Week 15: Magazines in the Archive: The Informatics of Storage and Analysis

 T 5/3
  • Roundup and final project presentations.
   
 M 5/9
FINAL PAPERS DUE