This interdisciplinary paper examines the implications of Cubist painting for 20th-century literary and filmic practices. It investigates Cubism's role in the formal innovations of American poets (Stein, Williams); the development of avant-garde filmmaking (Léger); cinematic and novelistic montage (Vertov); experimental narrative (Robbe-Grillet); dialectical structuring in political theatre and film (Brecht, Godard, Tanner); and the collage aesthetic in fiction and film (Fowles, Berger, Marker, Ondaatje, and Girard).
About this paper
| Paper title | A Topic in American Literature |
|---|---|
| Subject | English |
| EFTS | 0.2500 |
| Points | 30 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2025 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,972.25 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 72 points from ENGL 311-368, EURO 302
- Contact
- More information link
View more information on the English and Linguistics Programme website
- Teaching staff
Convenor and Lecturer: to be confirmed when paper is next offered.
- Textbooks
I. Books to be purchased - please make sure that you either own or have access to the following:
- Stein, Gertrude. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933)
- Brecht, Bertolt. The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1945)
- Robbe-Grillet, Alain. Jealousy (1957)
- Fowles, John. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969)
- Berger, John. G. (1972)
- Ondaatje, Michael. In the Skin of a Lion (1987)
- McCarthy, Tom. Men in Space (2007)
- Egan, Jennifer. Look at Me (2011)
- Smith, Ali. Autumn (2016)
II. Films to be screened
- Léger, Fernand. Ballet mécanique (1924)
- Vertov, Dziga, The Man With a Movie Camera (1928)
- Godard, Jean-Luc. Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1966)
- Godard, Jean-Luc. Tout va Bien (1972)
- Berger, John. Ways of Seeing, Episode One (1972)
- Marker, Chris. Sunless (1982)
- Girard, Francois. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
III. A course reader will be available from the Printery.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Information literacy, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
- Discuss relationships between literary, cinematic and visual material
- Examine inter-art analogies drawn from a variety of media
- Analyse a range of texts from historical, theoretical, critical and comparative perspectives
- Develop methodological and scholarly tools appropriate for literary, cinematic and visual analysis