Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre & Gallery

Irene Gammel and John Wrighton’s study "‘Arabesque Grotesque’: Toward a Theory of Dada Ecopoetics” has been published by Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and the Environment (Oxford). This new study advances a theory of Dada ecopoetics, exploring a number of crucial themes including Dadaists’ radical dismantling of nature/city boundaries; aesthetics of desublimated trash; a multisensorial immersive perspective; an antipastoral aesthetic; and ultimately, a radical ecopoetic liminality.

Abstract​

While modernism and its avant-garde are often excluded from studies of environmental or ecological concerns, associated mostly with modern technologies, urban life, and expanding media, this study proposes that the aesthetic trajectory that culminates in postmodern ecopoetics likewise extends backwards to WWI-era Dada ecology.

From a gendered perspective, the essay’s case study of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven’s Dada poems demonstrates how she simultaneously challenged male Dadaists’ dominating focus on machines and the vitalist Lebensphilosophien (or philosophy of life) of the fin de siècle by asserting the centrality of organic networks and the body’s position within them.

Calling for new critical attention at the intersection of poetry, ecology, and Dada, this study explores the poetics of porous boundaries within a world of unprecedented industrialization and environmental precarity. Ultimately, it aims to reconfigure the relationship of modernism’s avant-garde to the environment, showcasing their interconnections rather than their distinctions.

Citation

Irene Gammel and John Wrighton. "‘Arabesque Grotesque’: Toward a Theory of Dada Ecopoetics.” Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and the Environment (Oxford) 10.1093 (Fall 2013): 1-22.

Read ‘Arabesque Grotesque’: Toward a Theory of Dada Ecopoetics PDF
Visit Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment Online
​Click for more on our Publications and Books

Read Dr. Irene Gammel's bio here

 

Recent News

Gaurangi Batish joins MLC

Gaurangi Batish joins MLC

Gaurangi aspires to articulate the centre’s core values and vision through her contributions to the centre’s social media platforms.

Caitlin O’Keeffe joins MLC

Caitlin O’Keeffe joins MLC

At the MLC, Caitlin is excited to explore modernist women artists, the modernism archive and collection of modernist ephemera.

Cigdem Asatekin MacInnis joins MLC

Cigdem Asatekin MacInnis joins MLC

Cigdem joins the MLC and will be involved in research administration, exhibitions and events.

Amina Chaudhry joins MLC

Amina Chaudhry joins MLC

Amina assists Dr. Irene Gammel with her course ENG 710 Special Topics in Canadian Literature: Contemporary Life Writing.

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

MLC Themes

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

Amid the unprecedented social change of World War I, women renegotiated their identities by dramatically changing the way they engaged with the arts. But how did they do so? And how did everyday citizens engage with the war?
Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

MLC Themes

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, considered by many to be the mother of Dada, was a daringly innovative poet and an early creator of junk sculpture. “The Baroness” was best known for her sexually charged, often controversial performances.
Modernism in the World

MLC Themes

Modernism in the World

Recent research has departed from the Euro-centric and national view of Modernism to include approaches and methods studying Modernism across national boundaries and across different art forms to include fashion, dance, performance, technology, and visual culture.
Lucy Maud Montgomery

MLC Themes

Lucy Maud Montgomery

L.M. Montgomery is perhaps Canada's most important literary export. She was prolific writer of over 500 short stories and poems, and twenty novels, including the beloved Anne of Green Gables.
Canadian Modernism

MLC Themes

Canadian Modernism

The works of numerous Canadian authors who lived during the modernist era may well constitute the most central and experimental articulation of Canadian modernism in prose, allowing authors to stage cross-cultural, controversial, and even conflicted identities.
Modernist Biography and Life Writing

MLC Themes

Modernist Biography and Life Writing

Life writing, including autobiographical accounts, diaries, letters and testimonials written or told by women and men whose political, literary or philosophical purposes are central to their lives, has become a standard tool for communication and the dissemination of information.