Stein, Cage, Cummings : le risque de la lettre

Conférence

15mars2012

Jeudi 15 mars 2012
17h
Terra Foundation for American Art Europe
29, rue des Pyramides
75001 Paris

Isabelle Alfandary, professeur de littérature américaine, Université Paris-Est Créteil

Certain works of poetry and visual art in American modernism are characterized by their “bias towards the letter.” Although modern literature is by definition a written medium, and works following the invention of printing are made of ink and paper, not all take writing as their object. Conscious of their material, grammatical, and graphic character, as well as of their alienation from the letter, the works of Gertrude Stein, John Cage and e. e. cummings essentially play with and make light of their written condition. Their non-transitive use of writing results in an edifying and innovative staging of the printed page, redefining the space visually.

Isabelle Alfandary is professor of American literature at the Université Paris-Est Créteil where she teaches American literature, poetry, and philosophy. She is the author of e.e. cummings ou la minuscule lyrique (Belin 2002), a book related to her doctoral research on the American poet. She has published extensively on American modernism and postmodernism, and on Gertrude Stein. Her book Le Risque de la lettre : lectures du modernisme américain (2012, ENS-Editions) focuses on American modernism and the poetic writings of Gertrude Stein, e. e. cummings, and John Cage.

The workshop will be held in French.. Free admission
Terra Foundation for American Art Europe
29, rue des Pyramides
75001 Paris
Téléphone 01 43 20 67 01
Email information terraamericanart.eu
Website www.terraamericanart.org/europe