A Portrait of the Kűnstler as a Young Swivelhead: Nomi’s Journey into Art in A Complicated Kindness

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

• associated with the introduction of the All-over style of painting which avoids any points of emphasis or identifiable parts within the whole canvas and therefore abandons the traditional idea of composition in terms of relations among parts. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pollock/

– Sound familiar?

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

2. C.S. Lewis (74)

Narnia, of course . . .

But also The Screwtape Letters

• portrays a typical human life, with all its temptations and failings, as seen from the demon/devil's viewpoint.

• Wormwood and Screwtape live in a peculiarly morally reversed world, where individual benefit and greed are seen as the greatest good,

• Can’t comprehend true human virtue (Wikipedia)

-- any moral reversals in this novel?

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

2. C.S. Lewis (74)

3. Honoré de Balzac (77)

Balzac was an “author of the human condition”

• He attempted to chronicle it in its French entirety in a set of 100 novels and plays entitled “The Human Comedy.”

• Balzac sought to present his characters as real people, neither fully good nor fully evil, but fully human. "To arrive at the truth writers use whatever literary device seems capable of giving the greatest intensity of life to their characters.“ (Wikipedia)

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

2. C.S. Lewis (74)

3. Honoré de Balzac (77)

4. Paul Gauguin (several places)

Sought the exoticized other in what he deemed a “primitive”culture

The European cultural elite discovering the art of Africa, Micronesia, and Native Americans for the first time were fascinated, intrigued and educated by the newness, wildness and the stark power embodied in the art of those faraway places. Gauguin like Pablo Picasso in the early days of the 20th century was inspired and motivated by the raw power and simplicity of the so_called Primitive art of those foreign cultures.

Mennonite Heritage Village: “Pioneer Days”

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

2. C.S. Lewis (74)

3. Honoré de Balzac (77)

4. Paul Gauguin (several places)

5. Andrew Wyeth (“Christina’s World”)

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

2. C.S. Lewis (74)

3. Honoré de Balzac (77)

4. Paul Gauguin (several places)

5. Andrew Wyeth (“Christina’s World”)

6. Albert Camus

French author: Perhaps most famous in the English world as an existentialist thinker and creator of

the ultimate 20th C. “outsider,” Meursault

• Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEPSYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday.

• From The Outsider/ L’etranger

• Meursault has an absolute honesty in that he simply refuses to lie, either by speaking an untruth but also by showing an unfelt emotion. This ultimately leads to his own death, but also his radical freedom.

One last one . . .

Artistic References

1. Jackson Pollock (3)

2. C.S. Lewis (74)

3. Honoré de Balzac (77)

4. Paul Gauguin (several places)

5. Albert Camus (99)

6. Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Underground Man

• Dostoevsky's narrator at once announces to us how different he is from such traditional notions of heroism.  And the key metaphor declaring this difference is his own: he is an underground person.  He does not live in the world where actions matter.  And he lives there by choice, a willed refusal or inability to engage with other people in any significant way.  This choice does not satisfy him, but (and this is the crucial modern element) he has no intention of doing anything about it. (Ian Johnston)

• Dostoevsky says that the Underground Man, though a fictional character, is representative of certain people who “not only may but must exist in our society, taking under consideration the circumstances under which our society has generally been formed.” The Underground Man is extremely alienated from the society in which he lives. He feels himself to be much more intelligent and “conscious” than any of the people he meets. However, he is aware that his consciousness often manifests itself as a skepticism that prevents him from having confidence in any of his actions. This skepticism cripples him and keeps him from participating in “life” as other people do. The Underground Man constantly analyzes and second-guesses every thought and feeling he has. He is therefore incapable of making decisions about anything. (Sparknotes)

• Holly came from miami f.l.a.Hitch-hiked her way across the u.s.a.

• Plucked her eyebrows on the wayShaved her legs and then he was a sheShe says, hey babe, take a walk on the wild sideSaid, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side

• Candy came from out on the island,In the backroom she was everybodys darling,

• But she never lost her headEven when she was given head - she said

Hey Babe, take a walk on the wild side,Said hey honey, take a walk on the wild side.And the coloured girls go . . .