Looking Again at Maya Deren PDF
Preview Looking Again at Maya Deren
Looking Again at Maya Deren: How the ‘Mother of Avant-Garde Film’ was a Socially Conscious ‘Judaised Artist’ Alexander (Hammid) Hackenschmied, Maya Deren, nedatováno, silver gelatin print source: http://www.artnet.com/artists/alexander-hammid-hackenschmied Ariele Hoffman Submitted in total fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Research) April, 2015 School of Historical and Philosophical Studies The University of Melbourne Produced on archival quality paper Abstract Russian-Jewish filmmaker, Maya Deren, known as the ‘mother of avant-garde film’, lived and worked in Greenwich Village, New York, from the 1930s until her death in 1961. Deren produced experimental films, wrote for a variety of magazines on her philosophy of art and civilisation, lectured around the United States, Canada and South America and established the Creative Film Foundation, a pioneering organisation that supported independent film-makers in America. Beyond being an educator and interested in film-art, Deren’s oeuvre revealed a strong social conscience. Leading up to her career in film, Deren’s poetry, photography, her Masters Thesis in English Literature, and her role as assistant to anthropological dancer Katherine Dunham and to prominent political activist and writer, Max Eastman, all evinced strong social components. I argue therefore that Deren is more than an experimental film-maker; she is a socially conscious artist. Following Deren’s immigration to New York with her family at age five, to escape anti-Semitic pogroms, she continued to spend her childhood and teenage years both escaping forms of anti-Semitism and on a continuous search for belonging. Deren’s work was coloured by this search and desire to navigate social and cultural alienation, resulting in an endeavor to create and promote morally responsible art that enabled civilisational progress and, most significantly, unity. This was to be created by the morally responsible ‘artist’, who Deren established as being a self-constructed and socially reflective figure that evolved with the socio-cultural context. By exploring Deren within her early to mid twentieth century American environment, I reveal that Deren’s use of ‘the artist’ parallels the use of ‘the Jew’ as a cultural symbol, through which ideas of inclusion or exclusion from social and cultural life can be navigated. Deren, I therefore argue, must be read within the wider context of ‘Judaised’ discourse in America, in which ‘the Jew’ was a symbol through which to approach larger ideas of integration, assimilation and Americanisation. My study explores the history of ‘Judaised’ discourse in America in the twentieth century, its use by an array of artists, including Deren, as well as closely analysing Deren’s theoretical texts and films in order to understand Deren and her oeuvre in a nuanced manner and to cement a place for Deren within both ‘Judaised’ history and twentieth-century America. Declaration This is to certify that: 1. the thesis comprises only my original work towards the masters 2. due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used 3. the thesis is less than 40,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Acknowledgments First, I extend my grateful thanks to my supervisor, Professor David Goodman, for his invaluable guidance, understanding and patience. Thank you also to my secondary supervisor, Antonia Finnane, for her timely advice and direction. Secondly, to my colleagues in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies thank you for helping me with tasks both great and small: especially Alex Dellios for your outstanding technical and emotional support. Finally, my many thanks to Helene Lewit, Miriam and Steven Hoffman and Jordan Stewart for your unwavering and unconditional support. Table of Contents Introduction: From ‘Mother of Avant-Garde Film’ to a Socially Conscious ‘Judaised’ Artist 9 Chapter One: Maya Deren, Working for Cultural Inclusion 27 Chapter Two: Maya Deren and ‘The Artist’ 48 Chapter Three:‘Judaised’ Art: Resolving the Tensions of Maya Deren’s Landscape 75 Conclusion: Remembering Maya Deren 106 Bibliography 110
Description:The list of books you might like
