Daphne and Apollo 2

...and here is the same sculpture from a different angle. I think you can see how Bernini represents the process of transformation better here. Again, click on the image to enlarge it.

Daphne and Apollo

Here is the sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini of Daphne metamorphosing into the laurel tree just as Apollo, the god of poetry, is about to catch her. (You can click on the picture to make it bigger.) The story is told in the Metamorphoses, by the Roman poet, Ovid. You can read Ovid's story (in an English translation) here. The Metamorphoses is one of the most important of the many Roman texts that fascinated writers and artists in the Renaissance.

Modernist Film - Buster Keaton's Cops

I've discussed with a couple of you now the relation between film and modernism. I'll post more on this later - and if there's enough interest and I can sort out the technology, we can run an extra session on it. For now, though, have a look at Buster Keaton's Cops. Suspend your prejudices about what you think you are about to see, and you might be surprised. Keaton influenced Bunuel and Salvador Dali, and later worked with Samuel Beckett.

(If you would be interested in an extra session on film, add a comment below - this will give me an idea of the levels iof interest. Thanks!)

Dulce Et Decorum Est (2)

Yet another engagment with the 'old Lie'.... although a slightly more recent one!

First World War poetry on film

These short clips might be interesting:

1. an extract on Wilfred Owen from a BBC programme

2. an extract from Regeneration, the film I mentioned today, in which Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon discuss poetry at Craiglockhart military hospital in Scotland.

There are also lots of good clips on Youtube relating to other First World War poetry, and the First World War more generally. Have a look!

Dulce Et Decorum Est

I forgot to draw your attention today to the passage in 'Hugh Selwyn Mauberley' where Ezra Pound quotes the same 'old Lie' that Wilfred Owen uses in the title and the close of his poem. There Pound writes

 These fought, in any case,
and some believing, pro domo, in any case . .     

Some quick to arm,
some for adventure,
some from fear of weakness,
some from fear of censure,
some for love of slaughter, in imagination,
learning later . . .

some in fear, learning love of slaughter;
Died some "pro patria, non dulce non et decor". .

By chance, I also found this translation into Turkish of poem V of 'Hugh Selwyn Mauberley'. I have no idea whether it is good, or accurate, but it might be of interest. Perhaps one of you can tell me?

You might also be interested to see the manuscript of Wilfred Owen's first draft of 'Dulce Et Decorum Est', here, at the British Library's web page. Click on 'see transcript' to see a typed version of his first draft. The page also has some brief commentary on the poem. If you click on 'enlarge' - or directly here - you can see the whole first page of the manuscript properly.

Among other things, the British Library website states the following, which I didn't know (and probably should have - and so should you!):

At the time of the First World War, the poet Owen Seaman, who was editor of Punch magazine, wrote patriotic verses under the title, 'Pro Patria' that urged young men to the fight - though he himself, being 53 years old, remained as one "whose burden is to watch and wait." Those at a less comfortable distance from the fighting saw it differently. In his revelation of the reality of war Owen uses the Roman motto ironically, calling it "the old lie".

Finally, I discovered that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently named 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' as his favourite poem. I'll leave you to decide how many levels of irony there are to that.....

Modernism and British Poetry Assignment

Today I set the assignment for this course. Some of you were absent, so for those who were, and for ease of reference for all of you, here are the details again:

For this assessment you are required to combine a short piece of ‘creative’ writing with a longer, more substantial piece of critical writing.

Part One

You should write a short pastiche of a ‘Modernist’ poem – that is, a piece of work that might pass for writing from the Modernist period (in the style, say, of W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, H.D., T.S. Eliot, or any other poet from this period).  This should be no longer than two sides of A4 (though one should be sufficient) and can be on any subject. You may write an original piece in the style of a Modernist writer, or you might like to re-write a poem from an earlier period (you may find a short Romantic poem a good starting point)

.

(The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms describes a pastiche as ‘a literary work composed from elements borrowed either from various other writers or from a particular earlier author. The term can be used in a derogatory sense to indicate a lack of originality, or more neutrally to refer to works that involve a deliberate and playfully imitative tribute to other writers.’)

Part Two

For the second part of the assessment you should then write a short commentary (of approximately 750 words) on your pastiche in the form of a close critical analysis. This is the most important part of the assignment: you will be marked not on the quality of your pastiche but on the quality of the critical comments you make about it.

In this critical commentary you should explain what is being attempted in the creative piece; the ways in which its form is related to its content; and you should show by the use of detailed examples why you think it is characteristic of the Modernist experimental style.

Please note that the normal scholarly standards of essay-writing and presentation apply to this part of the assessment. Your pastiche can be as experimental in form as you like. Your commentary should be a well-structured, short essay.

You need not refer extensively to secondary reading but evidence of an engagement with Modernist practice and theory will be rewarded. In showing how your text is ‘Modernist’ you can (and should!) make comparisons with Modernist texts you have studied on the course.

This assignment will be worth 30% of your final mark.

DEADLINE: Completed assignments should be returned to the course tutor by 1pm on Thursday 23^rd December 2010.

DRAFTS: Feedback will be provided on any drafts submitted by Friday 17^th December. No feedback will be given on drafts submitted after that date. Drafts can be sent as Word attachments with an accompanying email to p.hart@iku.edu.tr.