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"Method of this work:
literary montage.
I have nothing to say only to show."
(Passagenwerk (1927 - 1940) - Walter Benjamin)
2005, Aug 08; 17:04 ::: La Révolution surréaliste (1924 - 1929)
Cover of the first issue of La Révolution surréaliste, December 1924.
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]La Révolution surréaliste (The Surrealist Revolution) was a publication by Surrealists in Paris. Twelve issues were published between 1924 and 1929.
Shortly after releasing the first Surrealist Manifesto, André Breton published the inaugural issue of La Révolution surréaliste on December 1, 1924.
Pierre Naville and Benjamin Péret were the initial directors of the publication and modeled the format of the journal on the conservative scientific review La Nature. The format was deceiving, and to the Surrealists delight, La Révolution surréaliste was consistently scandalous and revolutionary. The journal focused on writing with most pages densely packed with columns of text, but also included reproductions of art, among them works by Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, André Masson and Man Ray.
After La Révolution surréaliste
Some of the dissidents voiced their views in the periodical Documents beginning in April 1929. Writings by ethnographers, archaeologists, and art historians, and poets Georges Bataille and Michel Leiris emerged as the main contributors. Some of the Documents contributors went later formed another group, Acéphale.Breton's successor to La Révolution surréaliste was a more politically engaged publication, Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution (Surrealism in the service of the revolution), which appeared sporadically between 1930 and 1933.
In 1933, publisher Albert Skira contacted Breton about a new journal, which he planned to be the most luxurious art and literary review the Surrealists had seen, featuring a slick format with many color illustrations. Skira's restriction was that Breton was not allowed to use the magazine to express his social and political views. Later that year Minotaure began publication, and continued publication until 1939. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_R%C3%A9volution_surr%C3%A9aliste [Aug 2005]
see also: 1924 - André Breton - surrealism
2005, Aug 08; 16:05 ::: Poupée, variations sur le montage d'une mineure articulée (1934) - Hans Bellmer
Poupée, variations sur le montage d'une mineure articulée - Hans Bellmer
Minotaure 6 (Winter, 1934–35), pp. 30–31
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]Minotaure
Minotaure (1933–39) was a primarily Surrealist-oriented publication founded by Albert Skira in Paris.In many ways, it was the successor to La Révolution Surréaliste.
Minotaure brought many little-known figures such as Hans Bellmer, Victor Brauner, Paul Delvaux, Alberto Giacometti, and Roberto Matta to the attention of the art world. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaure [Aug 2005]
see also: 1934 - André Breton - Hans Bellmer
2005, Aug 08; 15:37 ::: Le surréalisme, même 4 (1958) - André Breton
Cover by Hans Bellmer of Le surréalisme, même 4 (spring 1958)
LE SURREALISME, MEME 4, PRINTEMPS 1958
LE SURREALISME, MEME). Breton, Andre & Jean Schuster, Editors Paris: Librairie Jean-Jacques Prevert, 1958. Illustrated Wrappers. First Edition. Square 8vo. 64pp, profusely illustrated in b&w. Cover by Hans Bellmer. Text in French. This is the fourth (of five total published) issue of Andre Breton's latter-day surrealist periodical "Le Surrealisme, Meme". This includes contributions by Monique Watteau, Vincent Bonoure, Jose Pierre (on Heinrich Von Kleist), Hans Bellmer, Robert Benayoun, Lancelot Lengyel, Jean-Francois Revel, Theodor Spoerri (on Adolf Wolfli), Ado Kyrou, Roger Calliois, and Pierre Molinier. --http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:xYi7wkQD9MsJ:www.abebooks-livre.fr/Author/68744/BRETON%2BAndr%25E9%2BJean%2BSchuster%2Beditors.html+%22le+surrealisme,+meme+4%22&hl=en [Aug 2005]The cover of this magazine has a picture of Unica Zürn's naked torso in bondage. [Sue Taylor (2000)]
The bondage photographs that resulted are of a different order. It is Zurn's naked torso or legs bound tightly with string, transforming her body into a series of folds and bulging mounds of flesh. In one image [the one on the cover of Le surréalisme, même 4 (1958)], she reclines on a plaid blanket seen from behind without head or limbs, reduced to a pale lump of trussed meat, with necrophiliac overtones and the caption, "Keep in a Cool Place." --http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/pages/nyam_document.php?nid=55&did=1420 [Aug 2005]
see also: 1958 - André Breton - Unica Zürn - Hans Bellmer
2005, Aug 08; 11:12 ::: Alma Mahler (1919) - Hermine Moos
Alma Mahler (1919) - Hermine Moos
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]In July 1918 Oskar Kokoschka ordered a life-size doll from the Munich doll-maker Hermine Moos as a substitute for his lost love. It was to be made to look exactly like Alma Mahler. On July 22 he already returned a model of the head, having checked it and made suggestions as to how the work should proceed.
"If you are able to carry out this task as I would wish, to deceive me with such magic that when I see it and touch it imagine that I have the woman of my dreams in front of me, then dear Fräulein Moos, I will be eternally indebted to your skills of invention and your womanly sensitivity as you may already have deduced from the discussion we had."--http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/puppet.html [Aug 2005]The doll was not finished until the second half of February 1919. On February 22 Kokoschka asked to have the doll sent to him. The ensuing disappointment was huge. The doll could scarcely fulfil Kokoschka’s erotic and sexual desires and in the end became no more than a kind of still-life model. The artist then took the place of the unhappy lover and by means of a painterly (and graphic) metamorphosis of the doll he breathed new life into Alma as a “figure of art”. --http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/puppet2.html [Aug 2005]
On a most obvious level, Hans Bellmer's doll was a substitute for his cousin, the proscribed object of his desire, in a literal way that Oskar Kokoschka's doll had been intended as a simulacrum of his former mistress. Kokoschka commissioned his mannequin from a doll maker in Berlin in 1918. While waiting for it, he referred to it as his "Beloved Fetish." His letters to Hermine Moos, the doll maker, were published in 1925 under the title "Der Fetisch." Bellmer read these letters and was fascinated to hear about another artist's close relationship with his doll. --http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/pages/nyam_document.php?nid=55&did=1420
Oskar Kokoschka
Oskar Kokoschka (March 1, 1886-February 22, 1980) was an Austrian artist and poet, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes.He had a passionate, often stormy affair with Alma Mahler, shortly after the death of her infant daughter and her affair with Walter Gropius. After several years together, Mahler rejected him, explaining that she was afraid of being too overcome with passion. He continued to love her his entire life, and one of his greatest works Bride of the Wind is a tribute to her. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Kokoschka [Aug 2005]
Alma Maria Mahler
Alma Maria Mahler (August 31, 1879 – December 11, 1964), noted in her native Vienna for her beauty and intelligence, was the wife, successively, of one of the century's leading composers (Gustav Mahler), architects (Walter Gropius), and novelists (Franz Werfel). Her life reads like a Who's Who of early twentieth century Europe.When Gustav Mahler died in 1911, Alma married Gropius. The marriage was tumultuous. For two years, Alma had an affair with artist Oskar Kokoschka, who painted his Bride of the Wind to represent their love.--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Mahler [Aug 2005]
see also: 1919 - 1925 - Hans Bellmer
2005, Aug 07; 23:25 ::: A Face in the Crowd (1957) - Elia Kazan
A Face in the Crowd (1957) - Elia Kazan
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]The 1957 film "A Face in the Crowd" critiques the television industry, in this tale of a TV reporter who turns a hobo into a TV star. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television#Dangers [Aug 2005]
The setting for the film is late 1950s America, a time during which television was rapidly replacing radio as the most popular entertainment medium. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Face_in_the_Crowd [Aug 2005]
see also: 1957 - television
2005, Aug 07; 23:25 ::: USA
map of the United States of America
U.S. popular culture has a significant influence on the rest of the world, especially the Western world. U.S. music is heard all over the world, and it is the sire of such forms as blues and jazz and had a primary hand in the shaping of modern rock and roll and popular music culture. Many great Western classical musicians and ensembles find their home in the U.S. New York City is a hub for international operatic and instrumental music as well as the world-famed Broadway plays and musicals, Seattle is a world leader in the grunge and heavy metal music industries, and Nashville is the capital of country music. New York, Seattle, and San Francisco are worldwide leaders in graphic design and New York and Los Angeles compete with major European cities in the fashion industry.
U.S. movies (primarily embodied in Hollywood) and television shows can be seen almost anywhere. This is in stark contrast to the early days of the republic, when the country was viewed by Europeans as an agricultural backwater with little to offer the culturally "advanced" world centers of Asia and Europe. Nearing the mid-point of its third century of nationhood, the U.S. plays host to the gamut of human intellectual and artistic endeavor in nearly every major city, offering classical and popular music; historical, scientific and art research centers and museums; dance performances, musicals and plays; outdoor art projects and internationally significant architecture. This development is a result of both contributions by private philanthropists and government funding. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA#Culture [Aug 2005]
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was a committee formed in 1985 by the wives of several congressmen. They included Tipper Gore (wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore); Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; and Nancy Thurmond, wife of Senator Strom Thurmond. Their mission was to educate parents about "alarming trends" in popular music. They claimed that rock music encouraged/glorified violence, drug use, suicide, criminal activity, etc. and sought the censorship and/or rating of music. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents_Music_Resource_Center [Aug 2005]
see also: USA - banned music
2005, Aug 07; 16:08 ::: British cinemaRelated to British cinema: British Film Institute - Bedazzled (1967) - Jane Birkin - Dirk Bogarde - Donald Cammell - Alex Cox - Raymond Durgnat - Terence Fisher - Peter Greenaway - Alfred Hitchcock - Hammer horror - Derek Jarman - Stanley Kubrick - Julianne Moore - Eadweard Muybridge - Christopher Nolan - Peeping Tom (1960) - Psycho (1960) - Nicolas Roeg - Ken Russell - Barbara Steele - UK - Peter Walker - Michael Winterbottom
see also: British cinema - UK
2005, Aug 07; 13:23 ::: Ernesto Gastaldi
giallo cover of story by Ernesto Gastaldi
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]ERNESTO GASTALDI is one of the most important Italian screenwriters. He wrote more than 100 films, acted by the greatest actresses and actors of the world, as Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Telly Savales, Jack Palance, Barbara Steele, J.L.Trintignant, Carrol Baker, Terence Hill, Budd Spencer, Jack Palance, James Mason, Steve McQueen,Van Johnson, Daliah Lahvi, Pamela Tiffin, Lee VanCleef, J.L. Trintignant, James Coburn, Mel ferrer, Glenn Ford, Giancarlo Giannini, Robert DeNiro and many others. His films were directed by very famous directors, as Sergio Leone, Tonino Valerii, Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda, Mario Camerini, Sergio martino, Damiano Damiani, etc., but his cult movies are over all those ones full of fear. --http://ernesto.gastaldi.tripod.com/chiSono.htm [Aug 2005]
see also: Italian horror - Italian cinema
2005, Aug 07; 12:07 ::: The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) - Riccardo Freda
Barbara Steele in The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) - Riccardo Freda
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]The outrageous central concern of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock has never been considered appropriate material for any film openly advertised and exhibited to the public, horror or otherwise. That a film about the frustrated passions of a necrophiliac could even be released in 1962 is a censorial mystery in its own right--or, perhaps a clear testament to the way horror films were officially ignored on every cultural level back then1. Did censors perhaps not know what was going on? Did they bother to even watch the film? --Glenn Erickson via http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/infocus/hichcock.htm [Aug 2005]
see also: 1962 - Barbara Steele - Riccardo Freda - Italian cinema
2005, Aug 07; 12:07 ::: L'Amante del Vampiro (1960) - Renato Polselli
Walter Brandi e Maria Luisa Rolando in L'amante del vampiro (1960) - Renato Polselli
image sourced here. [Aug 2005]Il maestro segreto dell’horror: Ernesto Gastaldi
Tra i grandi maestri del cinema fantastico, accanto ad Argento, Fulci, Bava, ce n'è uno quasi segreto, poco conosciuto. Che ha messo la sua firma su tanti film, e su tanti altri ha lavorato anche senza poterla mettere, e che ha scritto anche romanzi di sf sotto pseudonimo. Vittorio Catani ce lo presenta su questo numero, con l'intervista che segue, una presentazione dell'autore nella sezione Quando le radici, uno stralcio dal romanzo Iperbole infinita e un racconto completo. --http://www.delos.fantascienza.com/stampa/?85415 [Aug 2005]Enresto Gastaldi
Enresto Gastaldi (1934 - ), born in Graglia, Vercelli, Italy on September 10 is an Italian screen writer.He has written under the pseudonyms Julian Berry, Gastald Green, Julyan Perry and Ernst Gasthaus.
He has collaborated with Mario Bava , Lucio Fulci, Riccardo Freda and Dario Argento, , as such he can be regarded as a chief architect of the giallo film.
The 1973 Italian western comedy film My Name is Nobody (also known as "Mio nome è Nessuno" and "Lonesome Gun"), is based on his story. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Gastaldi [Aug 2005]
see also: 1960 - Italian cinema
2005, Aug 07; 11:53 ::: My Name Is Nobody (1973) - Tonino Valerii, Sergio Leone
My Name Is Nobody (1973) - Tonino Valerii, Sergio Leone [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Amazon.com
My Name is Nobody is a spoof of spaghetti Westerns, but it's also a legitimate, highly regarded entry in the genre. Its pedigree is purebred, as it was executive produced by the maestro of spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone, as a personal farewell to the genre that he helped to create. It's a transitional film, cheekily acknowledging the impact of The Wild Bunch and Sam Peckinpah (whose name is seen on a gravestone in one scene) and the popularity of Terence Hill, whose comedic "Trinity" films represented the last gasp of the once-glorious spaghetti Western. All of these elements are beautifully combined in the amusing tale of Nobody (Hill), an ambitious young gunman in 1899 who idolizes a legendary gunslinger Jack Beauregard, played by Henry Fonda in his final Western (and his second for Leone, after the classic Once Upon a Time in the West). Before Beauregard can retire in peace, Nobody sets up a final showdown of epic proportions, and the great Ennio Morricone enhances the abundance of memorable scenes with one of his most playfully inventive scores (including a comical use of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"). Tonino Valerii fully deserved his director's credit, but Leone also made significant contributions (including the opening scene), and the result is a delightful and surprisingly resonant film that Steven Spielberg later called his favorite Leone production. It's easy to see why: Like many of Spielberg's films, My Name is Nobody qualifies as both art and entertainment. --Jeff ShannonMy Name is Nobody (also known as "Mio nome è Nessuno" and "Lonesome Gun") is a 1973 western comedy film.
This film was directed by Tonino Valerii and Sergio Leone. It was writen by Sergio Leone, Fulvio Morsella and Ernesto Gastaldi. The cast includes Terence Hill, Henry Fonda, and Jean Martin.
My Name is Nobody was released under various names in America, Italy, France, and West Germany. It has a runtime of 111 for the TCM print, and 117 min outside of America. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Nobody [Aug 2005]
see also: 1973 - spaghetti western - Sergio Leone
2005, Aug 07; 10:53 ::: Touch of Evil (1958) - Orson Welles
Touch of Evil (1958) - Orson Welles [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Amazon.com essential video
Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles's film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all--it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles's original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles's directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles's control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. --Jeff Shannon for Amazon.comTouch of Evil (1958), was one of the last and one of the greatest examples of film noir ever made. It was directed by Orson Welles, who also appeared as a strangely corrupt policeman, Captain Hank Quinlan. The black-and-white film also features Charlton Heston as Mike Vargas, a Mexican narcotics agent on his honeymoon, Janet Leigh ("at her most perversely innocent" as one critic put it) as his bride, and Marlene Dietrich as Tanya, a cigar-smoking Mexican gypsy brothel owner with huge beautiful eyes.
The movie was written in two weeks by Welles based on Whit Masterson's novel Badge of Evil. It is not to be confused with another movie of the same title which aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000 during its later years. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_of_Evil [Aug 2005]
see also: 1958 - Orson Welles
2005, Aug 07; 10:53 ::: Adam Parfrey (1957)Adam Parfrey (born 1957) is an American journalist, editor, and the publisher of Feral House books.
Born in New York to actor Woodrow Parfrey (his mother, Rosa Ellovich, was Jewish, his father was not). He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1962. Upon graduating from Santa Monica High School, the young Parfrey enrolled at UCLA before transferring to UC, Santa Cruz where he studied theater and history without graduating. While at UCLA, he wrote for the student newspaper, The Daily Bruin, and later became co-Editor.
He collaborated on George Petros' EXIT magazine.
Following a stint at the tabloid newspaper Idea Magazine, Parfrey returned to New York. In 1989 he started Feral House with $5,000.
He now lives in Los Angeles, California. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Parfrey [Aug 2005]
see also: Adam Parfrey
2005, Aug 07; 10:40 ::: Georg Groddeck (1866 - 1934)Georg Groddeck, psychosomatic, writer (* October 13, 1866, Bad Kösen † June 10, 1934, Knonau close to Zurich)
“Who draws the conclusion, that I mentally medicate a human who has broken his leg, is very true – but I adjust the fracture and dress the wound. And then – I give him a massage, make exercises with him, give a daily bath to the leg, with water of 45 centigrade [Celsius] for half a hour and I take care, that he does neither gorge nor booze, and every now and then I ask him: Why did you break your leg, you yourself?” --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Groddeck [Aug 2005]
Georg Groddeck was a contemporary of Wilhelm Stekel
see also: psychoanalysis - medicine
2005, Aug 07; 10:18 ::: Little Birds (1979) - Anais Nin
Little Birds (1979) - Anais Nin [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
Evocative and superbly erotic, Little Birds is a powerful journey into the mysterious world of sex and sensuality. From the beach towns of Normandy to the streets of New Orleans, these thirteen vignettes introduce us to a covetous French painter, a sleepless wanderer of the night, a guitar-playing gypsy, and a host of others who yearn for and dive into the turbulent depths of romantic experience.From the Back Cover
"One of contemporary literature's most important writers."-NewsweekAnaïs Nin explores passion in all its forms, from two strangers on a moonlit Normandy beach to a woman's sudden fulfillment at a public hanging. Evocative, compelling, superbly erotic, Little Birds is a powerful journey into the mysterious world of sex and sensuality.
Anaïs Nin (1903-1977) was born in Paris and aspired at an early age to be a writer. An influential artist and thinker, she was the author of several novels, short stories, critical studies, a collection of essays, two volumes of erotica, and nine published volumes of her Diary.
see also: erotic fiction - Anais Nin - 1979
2005, Aug 07; 10:12 ::: Phoebe Gloeckner
illustration by Phoebe Gloeckner
image sourced here.Gary Sullivan: When did you begin doing comics? At what point did you become aware of "the underground"?
Phoebe Gloeckner: I started doing comics when I was fifteen years old, although I had been drawing for many years before I finally started putting pictures together to make a story. My parents read "underground" comics and had them around the house, and as a child I was actually more familiar with this type of comic that I was with comics that were more targeted at children. So the term "underground" was sort of meaningless to me, since in my life, there was nothing underground about them. They were the default type of comic, the basic building-block comic, in our household. --http://home.jps.net/~nada/gloeckner.htm [Aug 2005]
2005, Aug 07; 09:55 ::: The Atrocity Exhibition (1970/1984) - J. G. Ballard
The Atrocity Exhibition (1970/1984) - J. G. Ballard [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Amazon.com
Easily one of the 20th century's most visionary writers, J. G. Ballard still lives far ahead of his time. Called his "prophetic masterpiece" by many, The Atrocity Exhibition practically lies outside of any literary tradition. Part science fiction, part eerie historical fiction, part pornography, its characters adhere to no rules of linearity or stability. This reissued edition features an introduction by William S. Burroughs, extensive text commentary by Ballard, and four additional stories. Of specific interest are the illustrations by underground cartoonist and professional medical illustrator Phoebe Gloeckner. Her ultrarealistic images of eroticism and destruction add an important dimension to Ballard's text. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Book Description
The Atrocity Exhibition is J.G. Ballard's most complex, disturbing work, with fabulous photos by Ana Barrado and artwork by Phoebe Gloeckner.The Atrocity Exhibition is British writer J. G. Ballard's most experimental novel. Originally published in 1970 by Jonathan Cape, a revised large format paperback edition, with annotations by the author, and illustrations by Phoebe Gloeckner was issued by RE/Search in 1984, as RE/Search #8 & 9, with ISBN 0940642085. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atrocity_Exhibition [Aug 2005]
see also: J.G. Ballard - 1970 - 1984
2005, Aug 06; 22:55 ::: Moonlight Whispers (1999) - Akihiko Shiota
Moonlight Whispers (1999) - Akihiko Shiota [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Although he had already directed a straight-to-video pinku a year earlier, Moonlight Whispers was the theatrical debut of one of the most interesting young filmmakers to come up in Japan in the late 90s. A former assistant to Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Akihiko Shiota explored in this film the theme that has continued to fascinate him in his subsequent productions: the emerging maturity in adolescents. --Tom Mes via http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/moonwhis.shtml [Aug 2005]
see also: Japanese cinema - 1999
2005, Aug 06; 22:15 ::: The Image (1956) - Catherine Robbe-Grillet
The Image (1956) - Catherine Robbe-Grillet [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
The Image is one of the most acclaimed and famous erotic novels of all time. One of only five erotic novels credited with true literary status by Susan Sontag (in her essay The Pornographic Imagination), it is a novel of bondage, dominance, and submission in the tradition of The Story of O. The narrator, Jean, is assisted by Claire in the domination of the subservient Anne in a series of sexually explicit scenarios. --via Amazon.comThe Image by Jean de Berg
Grove Press 1966
Original French publication by Les Editions de Minuit 1956
According to John de St Jorre in his book Venus Bound: The Erotic Voyage of the Olympia Press and Its Writers (Random House 1994) Catherine Robbe-Grillet, wife of the French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet, was the author of this short novel about a D/s relationship between two women and the man who enters as a third member and also narrates the story. --http://www.storyofo.co.uk/L'Image.html [Aug 2005]
Catherine Robbe-Grillet est l'épouse d'Alain Robbe-Grillet, écrivain et académicien français considéré comme le principal théoricien du Nouveau Roman, mouvement littéraire des années '50 et '60 dont les auteurs remirent en question le récit linéaire traditionnel des romans réalistes du XIXème siècle.
Catherine Robbe-Grillet est née en 1930 à Paris où elle fait ses études secondaires dans une institution religieuse (Notre-Dame-de-Sion) et ses études supérieures (HEC). Un temps actrice de théâtres, de cinéma et photographe de plateau, elle publie, sous le nom de Jean de Berg « L'Image » (éditions de Minuit, 1956) et, sous celui de Jeanne de Berg, « Cérémonies de femmes » (Grasset, 1985).
Pour les besoins d'une biographie d'Alain Robbe-Grillet, Catherine a recherché ses vieux agendas et retrouvé, par la même occasion, plusieurs cahiers d'écolier dont elle avait oublié l'existence. Il s'agit d'un journal qu'elle commence à la fin de 1957 au moment de son voyage de noces et arrête sans crier gare en novembre 1962. Elle y relate les menus faits du quotidien, sa vie familiale, celle du clan Robbe-Grillet, ses innombrables voyages, proches ou lointains, son accident d'avion, mais aussi ses rencontres avec des auteurs du Nouveau Roman et les figures littéraires de l'époque, leurs démêlés, leurs luttes de pouvoir.
Comme dans tout journal intime, destiné, au départ, à rester parfaitement secret (ignoré même de son mari qui n'en prit connaissance que récemment), elle y consigne sans précaution les aléas de sa vie sentimentale, sexuelle et, sans prudence, ses jugements sur ce qui l'intrigue, la choque, l'ennuie. Catherine Robbe-Grillet ne ménage rien ni personne. Pas même son ego. --http://campus.france2.fr/campus_cettesemaine.php3?id_rubrique=44 [Aug 2005]
see also: 1956 - Jean de Berg - s&m fiction - erotic fiction
2005, Aug 06; 22:15 ::: The Indiscreet Jewels (1748) - Denis Diderot
The Indiscreet Jewels (1748) - Denis Diderot [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
From Library Journal
Diderot's erotic, subversive first novel, published anonymously in 1748, was a hit at the time, and no wonder: it is an allegory that portrays the king of France, Louis XV, as the sultan Mangogul of the Congo for whose amusement a magic ring is procured that makes women's genitals ("jewels") talk. The sultan's high-principled favorite, Mirzoza (Mme. de Pompadour), disapproves of his prurient curiosity; she foresees, correctly, that the indiscretion of the seraglio's "jewels" will wreck marriages and upset institutions. Clearly, Diderot's tale is more than a romp, as Adam Vartanian's long-winded introduction to this edition belabors; it is a novel of ideas in which "jewels" function as the vehicle of philosophy to enlighten society. Diderot managed his delicate high-wire act between adulation and satire so well that he wasn't thrown in jail until years later. With this new translation--serviceable but at times snagged in anachronisms-- Les bijoux indiscrets begs fresh consideration for curriculums and libraries. - Amy Boaz, "Library Journal" Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. via Amazon.comsee also: 1700s - Denis Diderot - erotic fiction
2005, Aug 06; 21:32 ::: Sextravaganza () - Claude Prosper Jolyot De Crébillon Fils
Sextravaganza () - Claude Prosper Jolyot De Crébillon Fils [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
Sextravaganza shows Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon fils at his ablest. It begins where most novels end - in the bedroom (of a fashionable lady of 18th Century France) at night. And it ends there the following morning. Its dramatis personae are two - as in the Garden of Eden. A man and a woman. The difference is that French women need no snake to tempt them. And Frenchmen no apple. Men and women had traveled far since the days of Adam and Eve. Sextravaganza is as simple, and as risque, as all that. But around this simple setting what a masterpiece of the subtle and the sophisticated does Crebillon paint! It is a most extraordinary picture of the battle between the sexes. On one side the male strategy of attack: the aphrodisiac quality of erotic conversation, the incandescent power of casual caresses, and the psychological moments of action. On the other side the female tactics of defense: the evasive changes of subject, the reprimands of mock indignation, the agitations of approaching defeat. Finally, the tumultuous surrender. Thus, in the course of one night, a man and a woman, each of whom is in love with somebody else, gradually warm up to each other until they forget past pleasures in present passions. Satire, irony, word play and scandal abound. --via Amazon.comProsper Joylot de Crébillon est un écrivain français. Il est souvent appelé Crébillon père car il est le père de Claude Crébillon, lui aussi écrivain. Il est né en 1674 à Dijon et est mort en 1762 à Paris.
Bien que son nom de Crébillon reste lui-même peu connu du grand public, plusieurs phrases du père et du fils Crébillon sont passés à la postérité sous forme de dictons. --http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosper_Jolyot_de_Cr%C3%A9billon [Aug 2005]
see also: 1900-1909 - erotic fiction
2005, Aug 06; 21:32 ::: Suburban Souls: The Erotic Psychology of a Man and a Maid (1901) - Jacky S.
Suburban Souls: The Erotic Psychology of a Man and a Maid (1901) - Jacky S. [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Jacky S Suburban Souls: The Erotic Psychology of a Man and a Maid New York: Book of the Month Club, 1994. First published in 1901 by Charles Carrington, an active publisher of erotica in England and France, its sexual frankness and autobiographical disclosures quickly made it as sought after as "My Secret Life." The author identifies himself only as Jacky S., a 43-year-old broker with the Paris stock exchange. His memoir tells of his five-year love affair with 19-year-old Lilian Arvel. The introduction by Richard Manton and Barney Rosset speculates that Carrington may have been the author. This edition also includes 20 appendices, among them the complete text to another novel, "The Yellow Room", referred to in "Suburban Souls" as having been edited by Jacky S. --http://illiad.biblio.com/browse_books/author/j/1226.html [Aug 2005]
Synopsis
The narrator of this tale is Jacky, a stockbroker of 43. He describes his five-year affair with the 19-year-old Lillian Arvel who, at first, willingly reciprocates his passion. However, she refuses to sacrifice her maidenhead and signs of her infidelity become unmistakable. --via Amazon.co.ukSuburban Souls is a novel of sex and jealousy, obsessive in its way as the self-consuming passion of the Narrator for Albertine in A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. A decade before the first volume of Proust's great novel, Suburban Souls dwells on the true nature of erotic jealousy. In its final stages the jealous emotion is not Othello's torment of tragic grandeur. Rather, it is necessary to the victim and, in its way, gratifying as the stimulation of sexual enjoyment. --Richard Manton via http://www.evergreenreview.com/102/articles/manton1.html [Aug 2005]
Download Description
When first published in 1901, Suburban Souls was a most unusual erotic book. It must not be taken at the same valuation as the ordinary obscene book. This is a novel with a purpose, and will teach many how to analyze a woman. It has considerable literary merit ... the relationship of a forty-five-year-old man and twenty-two-year-old young woman, related in the first person by the man. via [Amazon.com]Analysis of the moral delinquent
Suburban Souls is never more purely the story of Jacky's own obsessions than in his analysis of Lilian the moral delinquent. Convinced that he has caught her out in lies about letters which she claims to have written but then lost, he gets out the packet of her correspondence to him. By means of this he subjects her, in absentia, to a psychiatric examination in the terms of the day. Like Proust's Narrator, it is the man rather than the girl who makes the better subject for this. However, he concludes: "She suffers from anaemia or chlorosis. There is evidently psychopathic deterioration and she is a neurotic subject.... Masturbation and unnatural practices before the age of puberty have produced neurasthenia with its attendant symptoms. It is a clear case of hysteria."Such passages serve to remind us that whether or not 1901 was the publication year of Suburban Souls, it saw the appearance of a far more famous work: Sigmund Freud's Psychopathology of Everyday Life. --Richard Manton via http://www.evergreenreview.com/102/articles/manton1.html [Aug 2005]
Suburban Souls was published by Charles Carrington, an English publisher and distributor of erotic fiction.
see also: 1901 - man - maid - erotic fiction
2005, Aug 06; 21:14 ::: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971) - Sergio Martino
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971) - Sergio Martino
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971) - Sergio Martino [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Description
THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH Scream queen, Edwige Fenech, (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS) stars in this violent masterpiece, the first giallo film directed by Sergio Martino (CASE OF THE SCORPION TAIL, TORSO). Fenech portrays Julie Wardh; a restless woman embroiled in a horrifying mystery that threatens to drive her to the brink of madness...or worse. Which of the men in her life is the vicious serial killer and will Julie become his next victim? Erotic, stylish and at times excessive, THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH remains one of the most celebrated and influential giallo of all time and has been high on the list of most wanted DVDs by collectors and passionate fans of the genre. Written by acclaimed screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (THE 10th VICTIM, TORSO), this intricate thriller also stars giallo regulars George Hilton (THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH, THE KILLER MUST STRIKE AGAIN), and Ivan Rassimov (Mario Bava's SHOCK, EATEN ALIVE). The haunting and mesmerizing sound track by Nora Orlandi (KILL BILL: VOL. 2) --via Amazon.comsee also: Italian cinema - Enrnesto Gastaldi - Edwige Fenech
2005, Aug 06; 19:27 ::: Vaginal versus clitoral orgasmsA distinction is sometimes made between clitoral and vaginal orgasms in women. An orgasm that results from combined clitoral and vaginal stimulation is called a blended orgasm. Many doctors and feminist advocates have claimed that vaginal orgasms do not exist, and that female orgasms are obtained only from clitoral arousal. Recent discoveries about the size of the clitoris — it extends inside the body, around the vagina — would seem to support this theory. On the other hand, other sources argue that vaginal orgasms are dominant or more "mature."
This latter viewpoint was first promulgated by Sigmund Freud. In 1905, Freud argued that clitoral orgasm was an adolescent phenomenon, and upon reaching puberty the proper response of mature women changes to vaginal orgasms. While Freud did not provide evidence supporting this basic assumption, the consequences of the theory were greatly elaborated thereafter.
In 1966, Masters and Johnson published pivotal research into the phases of sexual stimulation. Their work included women as well as men, and unlike Kinsey previously (in 1948 and 1953), set out to determine the physiological stages leading up to and following orgasm. One of the results was the promotion of the idea that vaginal and clitoral orgasms follow the same stages of physical response. Additionally, Masters and Johnson argued that clitoral stimulation is the primary source of orgasms.
This standpoint has been adopted by feminist advocates, to the extent that some hold that the vaginal orgasm was a mirage, created by men for their convenience. Certainly many women can only experience orgasm with clitoral stimulation, either alone or in addition to vaginal stimulation, while (less commonly) other women can only experience orgasm with vaginal stimulation. The clitoral-only orgasm school of thought became an article of faith in some feminist circles. Alternatively, some feminists instead feel the clitoral orgasm robs females of the source of the womanhood.
A new understanding of vaginal orgasm has been emerging since the 1980s. Many women report that some form of vaginal stimulation is essential to subjectively experience a complete orgasm, in addition to or instead of external (clitoral) stimulation. Recent anatomical research has pointed towards a connection between intravaginal tissues and the clitoris. It has been shown that these tissues have connecting nerves. This, combined with the anatomical evidence that the internal part of the clitoris is a much larger organ than previously thought could also explain credible reports of orgasms in women who have undergone clitoridectomy as part of so-called female circumcision.
In some cases it is possible for women to orgasm through stimulation of secondary sexual organs (eg breasts), and in very rare cases, without any direct stimulation to the genitalia or the other specific erogenous zones, but instead stimulation of the non-specific zones (e.g. neck). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_orgasm#Female_ejaculation [Aug 2005]
2005, Aug 06; 18:57 ::: Mention of Christianity in the preamble of the European ConstitutionSeveral countries urged for the preamble of the Constitution to include a reference to Christianity. Among these were Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, who in May 2004 sent a letter to the Irish Presidency, saying "the governments of those countries consider as a priority the recognition of the Christian tradition in the Preamble" and noting that the list of signatories was not exhaustive as they hoped other countries would join their initiative. The Greek government likewise supported a reference to Christianity.
The strongest opponents to any reference to Christianity were France and Belgium. Other countries opposing such a reference were Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Among other nations, Spain originally supported the inclusion of a reference to Christianity, but the incoming Zapatero government reversed the stance of its predecessor.
Eventually the agreed upon Constitution made no explicit references to Christianity, only mentioning the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe". This decision caused disappointment in the Vatican, but satisfaction from candidate state Turkey. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_European_Constitution#Mention_of_Christianity_in_the_preamble [Aug 2005]
see also: Christianity - European
2005, Aug 06; 18:48 ::: European valuesIn recent decades the European Union has been seeking to identify and support common European values, however this has turned out to be a highly controversial issue. Some commentators wish to classify social cohesion and solidarity as European values and contrast them with more individualist values in the United States. The distinction is not a simple one, but is perhaps most fundamentally reflected in differing attitudes to government, notably in terms of trust in the government. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_culture#Values [Aug 2005]
see also: common - European - values
2005, Aug 06; 17:58 ::: M (1931) - Fritz Lang
Peter Lorre in M (1931)
M - (1931) - Fritz Lang [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
M (original title: M- Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (translation: M- a city in search of a murderer)) is a 1931 German film noir directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in which a serial killer, played by Peter Lorre, preys on children; the police and criminal underground of Berlin both work to stop him. M was the first starring role for Peter Lorre, and it boosted his career, even though he was typecast as a villain for years after.
Peter Lorre's character whistles the tune "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg in the movie; however, Peter Lorre himself could not whistle - it is actually Fritz Lang who is heard.
The film was based in part on the stories of Jack the Ripper and the Vampire of Düsseldorf and consistently ranks among the top 50 of the Internet Movie Database's top 250 films.
Lorre's future stardom and reputation as an actor was cemented in the film's climax, in which the killer, facing certain death at the hands of an underworld kangaroo court, makes an impassioned speech declaring that he can't control his violent urges. The monologue ends with the famous line (delivered by Lorre in a near scream) "Who knows what it's like to be me?"
The movie was remade in 1951 shifting the action from Berlin to Los Angeles. The remake, directed by Joseph Losey with David Wayne playing Lorre's role, was not well received by critics or audiences. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_(1931_movie) [Aug 2005]
see also: Fritz Lang - film - 1931 - film noir - children - serial killer
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