Certificate in Art History and Visual Culture - Theories of the Avant-Garde
CTMP 2340 Theories of the Avant-Garde
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course investigates concepts of the Avant-Garde in early 20th century futurism, expressionism, dadaism, and surrealism. We will read representative texts, including prose, poetry, drama, and manifestos as well as examine selected works from the visual arts and film. Topics for discussion include the historical Avant-Garde, the reintegration of art and life, the relations of the Avant-Garde to romanticism and modernism, the institution of art, aesthetics, the autonomy of art, and political radicalism. We will also examine the implications of theories of the Avant-Garde for the debates about the relation between modernism and postmodernism. A key theoretical text in the course is Peter Burger's
Theory of the Avant-Garde but we will also examine selected writings by Lukacs, Brecht, Benjamin, Kracauer, Poggioli, Adorno, Bataille, Habermas, Lyotard, and Agamben.
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