Speaker: Jason Finch (English Language and Literature, Åbo Akademi University, Finland)
Jason will present via Zoom. The seminar can be attended in person from Niagara C0826 or on Zoom (link).
Abstract:
In a text used by Walter Benjamin as the epigraph to ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ (1935), Paul Valéry wrote that ‘[i]n all arts there is a physical component that cannot continue to be considered and treated as before; no longer can it escape the effects of modern knowledge and modern practice’. In my talk I explore the ‘physical component’ of the literary art work in the era of mass print culture’s greatest saturation in urban experience during the earlier twentieth century, via case studies depicting London and New York. A literary work of art is unlike a painting which is understood as an original capable of being, on Benjamin’s terms, mechanically reproduced via photography, printing and, in our era, digital means: it consists both of a group of words with no physical location, and of the presence of that in a material object (or performance), in the twentieth century canonically a printed book on which the author’s name and the work’s title was prominently displayed. Linking urban humanities and mobility humanities, I develop a conceptual model of this doubleness, engaging with Victorian paintings depicting the interiors of London horse-drawn omnibuses, then reading E.M. Forster’s short story ‘The Celestial Omnibus’ and J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. The literary art work in the age of public transport moves both physically and socially, as it is redefined and marketed to newly identified consumer groups; understanding this nuances a reading of Benjamin’s still potent essay.
This seminar is part of the IUR Brown Bag Seminar Series. Bring your lunch! If you have any questions, please contact Defne Kadioglu and Julie Goodrich.