Individual actors Books

Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2020 Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present Book Prize​Winner of the 2019 Art Journal Prize from the College Art Association What is the role of pleasure and pain in the politics of art? In Touched Bodies, Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra approaches this question as she examines the flourishing of live and intermedial performance in Latin America during times of authoritarianism and its significance during transitions to democracy. Based on original documents and innovative readings, her book brings politics and ethics to the discussion of artistic developments during the “long 1980s”. She describes the rise of performance art in the context of feminism, HIV-activism, and human right movements, taking a close look at the work of Diamela Eltit and Raúl Zurita from Chile, León Ferrari and Liliana Maresca from Argentina, and Marcos Kurtycz, the No Grupo art collective, and Proceso Pentágono from Mexico. The comparative study of the work of these artists attests to a performative turn in Latin American art during the 1980s that, like photography and film before, recast the artistic field as a whole, changing the ways in which we perceive art and understand its role in society.Trade Review“An astute and moving book, Touched Bodies gives account of the transition from an aesthetics of representation to an aesthetics of embodiment and bodily vulnerability in Latin American art of the 1980s. A contribution to aesthetic theory as much as to the history of art, Touched Bodies extends our understanding of performance-based art in relationship to practices of vulnerability, dissensus, and cross-temporal performativity.” -- Rebecca Schneider * author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment *"Mara Polgovsky makes an outstanding contribution to the re-evaluation of the performative turn in adversarial art from 1970s and 1980s Latin America, expanding the genealogy of conceptualism and recalibrating the spectrum of body-centered practice. The originality of her approach provides unparalleled insights into the complex interaction between corporeality, political activism and the body as site of desire and vulnerability." -- Erica Segre * author of Intersected Identities *"Polgovsky’s book, which has already been shortlisted by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present for its 2020 Book Prize, brings to an international audience a series of artists who have broken the mould of Latin America’s default posture of political protest and produced works which sometimes condense the cry of despair in its barest expression by breaking down the gulf between their bodies and their work. She has brought to the project a remarkable combination of philosophical erudition and descriptive skill, plus the unstoppable curiosity of the best researchers. The book marks a turning point." * Journal of Latin American Studies *“An astute and moving book, Touched Bodies gives account of the transition from an aesthetics of representation to an aesthetics of embodiment and bodily vulnerability in Latin American art of the 1980s. A contribution to aesthetic theory as much as to the history of art, Touched Bodies extends our understanding of performance-based art in relationship to practices of vulnerability, dissensus, and cross-temporal performativity.” -- Rebecca Schneider * author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment *"Mara Polgovsky makes an outstanding contribution to the re-evaluation of the performative turn in adversarial art from 1970s and 1980s Latin America, expanding the genealogy of conceptualism and recalibrating the spectrum of body-centered practice. The originality of her approach provides unparalleled insights into the complex interaction between corporeality, political activism and the body as site of desire and vulnerability." -- Erica Segre * author of Intersected Identities *"Polgovsky’s book, which has already been shortlisted by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present for its 2020 Book Prize, brings to an international audience a series of artists who have broken the mould of Latin America’s default posture of political protest and produced works which sometimes condense the cry of despair in its barest expression by breaking down the gulf between their bodies and their work. She has brought to the project a remarkable combination of philosophical erudition and descriptive skill, plus the unstoppable curiosity of the best researchers. The book marks a turning point." * Journal of Latin American Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction Corporeal calligraphies in times of change The long 1980s: redefining the temporality of art From curatorial to historical revisionism Beyond the art of post-dictatorship From memory studies to the aesthetics of dissensus The performative turn The ethics of performance Overview of chapters Chapter 1 – Writing the Body A precarious aesthetic A monstrous scene Territories of excess Sacrificial bodies Neonic Obscenity A mystical occasion Sor Teresa, la Lumpérica A corporeal rhetoric The implicated self Chapter 2 – Lamentations Prayerful acts Sky writing and the poetics of ambiguity The new life Song for his/her disappeared love The politics of lamentation Purgatory Neither sorrow nor fear (Un)godly fragments Chapter 3 – Mē mou haptou: Touch, Ethics, and History Waiting for Ariel A political medium? A tortured era A glimpse into 1960s collage Noli me tangere Brailles The haptic gaze Never Again Scenes from inferno Pacem in terris Chapter 4 – Nudities Le féminin Christs and mannequins Divine phobia Intimacy reawakened A scourge from God? Chapter 5 – Ritual and/of Violence Potlatch The scene of destruction The scene of war Mexico’s parodic guerrilla art The scene of ritual Liminal personae The scene of terror Letter bombing The scene of the self Exploding time Chapter 6 – Cybernetics and Face-off Play The hybrid face The interface Facial traces The (post-)facial matrix Conclusion Touched bodies The trace Acknowledgments List of References List of Figures Index

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2020 Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present Book Prize​Winner of the 2019 Art Journal Prize from the College Art Association What is the role of pleasure and pain in the politics of art? In Touched Bodies, Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra approaches this question as she examines the flourishing of live and intermedial performance in Latin America during times of authoritarianism and its significance during transitions to democracy. Based on original documents and innovative readings, her book brings politics and ethics to the discussion of artistic developments during the “long 1980s”. She describes the rise of performance art in the context of feminism, HIV-activism, and human right movements, taking a close look at the work of Diamela Eltit and Raúl Zurita from Chile, León Ferrari and Liliana Maresca from Argentina, and Marcos Kurtycz, the No Grupo art collective, and Proceso Pentágono from Mexico. The comparative study of the work of these artists attests to a performative turn in Latin American art during the 1980s that, like photography and film before, recast the artistic field as a whole, changing the ways in which we perceive art and understand its role in society.Trade Review“An astute and moving book, Touched Bodies gives account of the transition from an aesthetics of representation to an aesthetics of embodiment and bodily vulnerability in Latin American art of the 1980s. A contribution to aesthetic theory as much as to the history of art, Touched Bodies extends our understanding of performance-based art in relationship to practices of vulnerability, dissensus, and cross-temporal performativity.” -- Rebecca Schneider * author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment *"Mara Polgovsky makes an outstanding contribution to the re-evaluation of the performative turn in adversarial art from 1970s and 1980s Latin America, expanding the genealogy of conceptualism and recalibrating the spectrum of body-centered practice. The originality of her approach provides unparalleled insights into the complex interaction between corporeality, political activism and the body as site of desire and vulnerability." -- Erica Segre * author of Intersected Identities *"Polgovsky’s book, which has already been shortlisted by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present for its 2020 Book Prize, brings to an international audience a series of artists who have broken the mould of Latin America’s default posture of political protest and produced works which sometimes condense the cry of despair in its barest expression by breaking down the gulf between their bodies and their work. She has brought to the project a remarkable combination of philosophical erudition and descriptive skill, plus the unstoppable curiosity of the best researchers. The book marks a turning point." * Journal of Latin American Studies *“An astute and moving book, Touched Bodies gives account of the transition from an aesthetics of representation to an aesthetics of embodiment and bodily vulnerability in Latin American art of the 1980s. A contribution to aesthetic theory as much as to the history of art, Touched Bodies extends our understanding of performance-based art in relationship to practices of vulnerability, dissensus, and cross-temporal performativity.” -- Rebecca Schneider * author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment *"Mara Polgovsky makes an outstanding contribution to the re-evaluation of the performative turn in adversarial art from 1970s and 1980s Latin America, expanding the genealogy of conceptualism and recalibrating the spectrum of body-centered practice. The originality of her approach provides unparalleled insights into the complex interaction between corporeality, political activism and the body as site of desire and vulnerability." -- Erica Segre * author of Intersected Identities *"Polgovsky’s book, which has already been shortlisted by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present for its 2020 Book Prize, brings to an international audience a series of artists who have broken the mould of Latin America’s default posture of political protest and produced works which sometimes condense the cry of despair in its barest expression by breaking down the gulf between their bodies and their work. She has brought to the project a remarkable combination of philosophical erudition and descriptive skill, plus the unstoppable curiosity of the best researchers. The book marks a turning point." * Journal of Latin American Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction Corporeal calligraphies in times of change The long 1980s: redefining the temporality of art From curatorial to historical revisionism Beyond the art of post-dictatorship From memory studies to the aesthetics of dissensus The performative turn The ethics of performance Overview of chapters Chapter 1 – Writing the Body A precarious aesthetic A monstrous scene Territories of excess Sacrificial bodies Neonic Obscenity A mystical occasion Sor Teresa, la Lumpérica A corporeal rhetoric The implicated self Chapter 2 – Lamentations Prayerful acts Sky writing and the poetics of ambiguity The new life Song for his/her disappeared love The politics of lamentation Purgatory Neither sorrow nor fear (Un)godly fragments Chapter 3 – Mē mou haptou: Touch, Ethics, and History Waiting for Ariel A political medium? A tortured era A glimpse into 1960s collage Noli me tangere Brailles The haptic gaze Never Again Scenes from inferno Pacem in terris Chapter 4 – Nudities Le féminin Christs and mannequins Divine phobia Intimacy reawakened A scourge from God? Chapter 5 – Ritual and/of Violence Potlatch The scene of destruction The scene of war Mexico’s parodic guerrilla art The scene of ritual Liminal personae The scene of terror Letter bombing The scene of the self Exploding time Chapter 6 – Cybernetics and Face-off Play The hybrid face The interface Facial traces The (post-)facial matrix Conclusion Touched bodies The trace Acknowledgments List of References List of Figures Index

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Book SynopsisThe first-ever graphic biography of Paul Robeson, Ballad of an American, charts Robeson’s career as a singer, actor, scholar, athlete, and activist who achieved global fame. Through his films, concerts, and records, he became a potent symbol representing the promise of a multicultural, multiracial American democracy at a time when, despite his stardom, he was denied personal access to his many audiences. Robeson was a major figure in the rise of anti-colonialism in Africa and elsewhere, and a tireless campaigner for internationalism, peace, and human rights. Later in life, he embraced the civil rights and antiwar movements with the hope that new generations would attain his ideals of a peaceful and abundant world. Ballad of an American features beautifully drawn chapters by artist Sharon Rudahl, a compelling narrative about his life, and an afterword on the lasting impact of Robeson’s work in both the arts and politics. This graphic biography will enable all kinds of readers—especially newer generations who may be unfamiliar with him—to understand his life’s story and everlasting global significance.Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson is published in conjunction with Rutgers University’s centennial commemoration of Robeson’s 1919 graduation from the university.Study guide for Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson (https://d3tto5i5w9ogdd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/10201015/YA_Adult-Study-Guide-for-A-Graphic-Biography-of-Paul-Robeson.pdf).View the blad for Ballad of an American.Trade Review“Paul Robeson was an artistic genius, moral titan, and courageous freedom fighter whom we must never forget!” -- Dr. Cornel West"Sharon Rudahl's graphic biography of Paul Robeson is vivid, well-informed, and deeply moving--a compelling account of a towering American hero, whose courage is more inspiring than ever at this fraught historical moment." -- Jackson Lears * Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History, Rutgers University *"With powerful drawings, meticulous attention to historical detail, and deep appreciation for his wife, Eslanda Goode Robeson, Rudahl, Buhle, and Ware provide us with a deeply moving tribute to the enormous talent, courage and genius of Paul Robeson." -- Bettina Aptheker * Distinguished Professor Emerita, Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz *"With extraordinary rhythm, these arresting drawings and captivating words seamlessly weave insights from critical race theory, global politics, Marxist theory, cultural studies, and historical criticism to narrate the inimitable life of Paul Robeson. Robeson's story is as much a meditation on black aliveness in the face of systemic racism today as it is an insightful history of one man's fortitude against government persecution of yesteryear. This graphic biography captivated me from the first page - I couldn't put it down! It will be a classic in the genre." -- Andre C. Willis * Associate Professor of Religion, Brown University *"Ballad of an American takes a creative and thoughtful approach to sharing the life story of the great artist-activist. It is a welcome addition to the body of literature on Paul Robeson." -- Lindsey R. Swindall * author of Paul Robeson: A Life of Activism and Art *"[Ballad of an American] carries an inspiring message at a time in which our country is living amidst the most far-reaching civil rights movement in its modern-day political history." * Portside *"When Paul Robeson Became a Star: From the First-Ever Graphic Biography of the American Icon" excerpt * Literary Hub *"The first-ever graphic biography of alumnus Paul Robeson RC1919 is a suitable introduction to his remarkable life, from his birth in Princeton, New Jersey, to his athletic and academic accolades at Rutgers to his worldwide fame as a film and stage star." * Rutgers Magazine *"A Public Affair," WORT-FM interview with Sharon Rudahl * "A Public Affair," WORT *"BOOKS: NON-FICTION: Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson" * Zinn Project Education *"Paul Robeson, Political Outlaw: Lessons for Today from the Black Radical Tradition: Greg Carr in Conversation with Jesse Hagopian" * Zinn Project Education *"Social Justice Books: A Teaching for Change Project" * Teaching for Change *"A unique mix of art, history, and radical narrative. It is a welcome introduction to Robeson’s unsurpassed contributions to the struggles for workers’ rights, African American equality, peace, and—yes—socialism....Ballad of an American is highly recommended and would make a great stocking-stuffer this holiday season." * People's World *"Much of this book is dedicated to Robeson’s political maturity and actions on behalf of the earliest civil rights movement. Also, beautifully depicted in the book is his 1934 visit to the Soviet Union following an invitation from Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein. Rudahl tells and shows the reader how Robeson stared down and confronted Nazi guards in Berlin as he, Essie and friend Mary Seton anxiously boarded their train into Russia." * Truthout *"Ballad of an American, released in 2019 on the 100th anniversary of Robeson’s graduation from Rutgers University, brings his creative and powerful historical presence to life through Rudahl’s striking graphic text and Buhle’s and Ware’s excellent afterword. Rudahl’s review of Robeson’s life is a needed antidote to the long and shameful efforts to erase his legacy and drop him down Orwell’s memory hole of history." * Monthly Review *"If there is one thing to take away from “Ballad of an American,” it’s that all art is political—not can be, but is....Rudahl’s moving graphic biography of Robeson is a reminder that artists and creatives can still make an impact today, whether through song, comics, or bite-sized video." * Democratic Left: A Publication of Democratic Socialists of America *"Captures the essence of why Robeson’s story is a must-read for all Americans." * BeyondChron *"This book represents another graphic novel approach to teaching Black history. This time the focus is the actor and activist Paul Robeson, who is a figure worth studying because his legacy is so complex. He fought vigorously against white supremacy and was a committed Communist, even when people who shared his views started distancing themselves from the party. Robeson’s story invites us to grapple with complexity." * Book Riot *"Q&A: Sharon Rudahl: Graphic novelist honors performer, activist Paul Robeson," by G.M. Burns * Ithaca.com *"We all still stand in the shadow of this tall tree. May the leaves of this volume inspire many." * Dig Boston *"Sharon Rudahl does a magnificent job of highlighting the key details of Paul Robeson’s astonishing life." * Progressive *"Interview with Underground Comix Artist Sharon Rudahl" * Comic Grinders *"PHS Senior Talks with Eyewitness to History" * TAP into Princeton *"The volume combines engaging art with biography and radical history and did tremendous justice to Robeson’s multi-dimensional life of art and political engagement. " * The Progressive *"With beautiful illustrations and a conversational tone, this biography paints an intimate portrait of Robeson, the son of a slave, who became a leading voice in the black liberation struggle in the United States and the fight against colonial rule around the world." * Black Agenda Report *“Paul Robeson was an artistic genius, moral titan, and courageous freedom fighter whom we must never forget!” -- Dr. Cornel West"Sharon Rudahl's graphic biography of Paul Robeson is vivid, well-informed, and deeply moving--a compelling account of a towering American hero, whose courage is more inspiring than ever at this fraught historical moment." -- Jackson Lears * Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History, Rutgers University *"With powerful drawings, meticulous attention to historical detail, and deep appreciation for his wife, Eslanda Goode Robeson, Rudahl, Buhle, and Ware provide us with a deeply moving tribute to the enormous talent, courage and genius of Paul Robeson." -- Bettina Aptheker * Distinguished Professor Emerita, Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz *"With extraordinary rhythm, these arresting drawings and captivating words seamlessly weave insights from critical race theory, global politics, Marxist theory, cultural studies, and historical criticism to narrate the inimitable life of Paul Robeson. Robeson's story is as much a meditation on black aliveness in the face of systemic racism today as it is an insightful history of one man's fortitude against government persecution of yesteryear. This graphic biography captivated me from the first page - I couldn't put it down! It will be a classic in the genre." -- Andre C. Willis * Associate Professor of Religion, Brown University *"Ballad of an American takes a creative and thoughtful approach to sharing the life story of the great artist-activist. It is a welcome addition to the body of literature on Paul Robeson." -- Lindsey R. Swindall * author of Paul Robeson: A Life of Activism and Art *"[Ballad of an American] carries an inspiring message at a time in which our country is living amidst the most far-reaching civil rights movement in its modern-day political history." * Portside *"When Paul Robeson Became a Star: From the First-Ever Graphic Biography of the American Icon" excerpt * Literary Hub *"The first-ever graphic biography of alumnus Paul Robeson RC1919 is a suitable introduction to his remarkable life, from his birth in Princeton, New Jersey, to his athletic and academic accolades at Rutgers to his worldwide fame as a film and stage star." * Rutgers Magazine *"A Public Affair," WORT-FM interview with Sharon Rudahl * "A Public Affair," WORT *"BOOKS: NON-FICTION: Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson" * Zinn Project Education *"Paul Robeson, Political Outlaw: Lessons for Today from the Black Radical Tradition: Greg Carr in Conversation with Jesse Hagopian" * Zinn Project Education *"Social Justice Books: A Teaching for Change Project" * Teaching for Change *"A unique mix of art, history, and radical narrative. It is a welcome introduction to Robeson’s unsurpassed contributions to the struggles for workers’ rights, African American equality, peace, and—yes—socialism....Ballad of an American is highly recommended and would make a great stocking-stuffer this holiday season." * People's World *"Much of this book is dedicated to Robeson’s political maturity and actions on behalf of the earliest civil rights movement. Also, beautifully depicted in the book is his 1934 visit to the Soviet Union following an invitation from Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein. Rudahl tells and shows the reader how Robeson stared down and confronted Nazi guards in Berlin as he, Essie and friend Mary Seton anxiously boarded their train into Russia." * Truthout *"Ballad of an American, released in 2019 on the 100th anniversary of Robeson’s graduation from Rutgers University, brings his creative and powerful historical presence to life through Rudahl’s striking graphic text and Buhle’s and Ware’s excellent afterword. Rudahl’s review of Robeson’s life is a needed antidote to the long and shameful efforts to erase his legacy and drop him down Orwell’s memory hole of history." * Monthly Review *"If there is one thing to take away from “Ballad of an American,” it’s that all art is political—not can be, but is....Rudahl’s moving graphic biography of Robeson is a reminder that artists and creatives can still make an impact today, whether through song, comics, or bite-sized video." * Democratic Left: A Publication of Democratic Socialists of America *"Captures the essence of why Robeson’s story is a must-read for all Americans." * BeyondChron *"This book represents another graphic novel approach to teaching Black history. This time the focus is the actor and activist Paul Robeson, who is a figure worth studying because his legacy is so complex. He fought vigorously against white supremacy and was a committed Communist, even when people who shared his views started distancing themselves from the party. Robeson’s story invites us to grapple with complexity." * Book Riot *"QA: Sharon Rudahl: Graphic novelist honors performer, activist Paul Robeson," by G.M. Burns * Ithaca.com *"We all still stand in the shadow of this tall tree. May the leaves of this volume inspire many." * Dig Boston *"Sharon Rudahl does a magnificent job of highlighting the key details of Paul Robeson’s astonishing life." * Progressive *"Interview with Underground Comix Artist Sharon Rudahl" * Comic Grinders *"PHS Senior Talks with Eyewitness to History" * TAP into Princeton *"The volume combines engaging art with biography and radical history and did tremendous justice to Robeson’s multi-dimensional life of art and political engagement. " * The Progressive *"With beautiful illustrations and a conversational tone, this biography paints an intimate portrait of Robeson, the son of a slave, who became a leading voice in the black liberation struggle in the United States and the fight against colonial rule around the world." * Black Agenda Report *"Sharon Rudahl’s wonderful graphic biography of Paul Robeson is a welcome addition to the recent literature on this towering figure who was probably the world’s first truly global “Black Star,” as C. L. R. James once admiringly wrote of him. With beautiful images and concise text, Rudahl’s biography captures the essence of one of the giants of twentieth-century African American cultural politics. The editors, Paul Buhle and Lawrence Ware, close the text with an insightful afterword that provides a larger frame for understanding Robeson’s life." -- Cedric R. Tolliver * ALH Online Review *Table of ContentsContents I. Son of a Slave, Star of Rutgers II. First Steps on the Stage III. He Finds His Voice IV. A World to Win V. Bloodied but Unbowed Paul Robeson: More Alive Than Ever An Afterword by the Editors Further Reading

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Book SynopsisAlthough she remains one of the all-time most recognizable Hollywood icons, Marilyn Monroe has seldom been ranked among the greatest actors of her generation. Critics have typically viewed her film roles as mere extensions of her sexpot star persona. Yet this ignores both the subtle variations between these roles and the acting skill that went into the creation of Monroe’s public persona. Some Kind of Mirror offers the first extended scholarly analysis of Marilyn Monroe’s film performances, examining how they united the contradictory discourses about women’s roles in 1950s America. Amanda Konkle suggests that Monroe’s star persona resonated with audiences precisely because it engaged with the era’s critical debates regarding femininity, sexuality, marriage, and political activism. Furthermore, she explores how Monroe drew from the techniques of Method acting and finely calibrated her performances to better mirror her audience’s anxieties and desires. Drawing both from Monroe’s filmography and from 1950s fan magazines, newspaper reports, and archived film studio reports, Some Kind of Mirror considers how her star persona was coauthored by the actress, the Hollywood publicity machine, and the fans who adored her. It is about why 1950s America made Monroe a star, but it is also about how Marilyn defined an era. Trade Review"Written with passion and verve, this meticulously researched and well-argued book is a valuable entry into our ongoing conversations about movie stars and their meanings in their original contexts as well as our own." -- Adrienne McLean * author of Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom *"Konkle brings fresh understanding to the Marilyn Monroe phenomenon, shedding light on her journey from sexpot to star, and revealing the complex construction and development of the Monroe image." -- Lucy Bolton * Queen Mary University of London *"Some Kind of Mirror is a fascinating study, a must-read for connoisseurs of Monroe's career, and a choice pick for public and college library Film Studies shelves. Highly recommended." * Midwest Book Review *"Highly recommended." * Choice *"Amanda Konkle has managed to add a fresh new angle to this ever-expanding topic area. From the outset, it is apparent that Konkle knows her subject extremely well and is committed to showing both Monroe’s underappreciated skills as an actress and how her constructed star persona reflected the timeframe in which she worked. The vast amount of research Konkle has employed to both her study of Monroe and American culture at the time is abundantly evident throughout." * Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television *Table of ContentsContents 1 Introduction: Playing Marilyn Monroe 2 Becoming a Star: The Publicity Buildup and Early Performances 3 Mrs. America: Marilyn Monroe and Marriage Anxiety 4 “It’s Kinda Personal and Embarrassing, Too”: Monroe, the Kinsey Reports, and the Double Standard 5 The Actress and Her Method: Resisting Playing Marilyn Monroe Conclusion: A Marilyn Monroe Type Filmography Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisAlthough she remains one of the all-time most recognizable Hollywood icons, Marilyn Monroe has seldom been ranked among the greatest actors of her generation. Critics have typically viewed her film roles as mere extensions of her sexpot star persona. Yet this ignores both the subtle variations between these roles and the acting skill that went into the creation of Monroe’s public persona. Some Kind of Mirror offers the first extended scholarly analysis of Marilyn Monroe’s film performances, examining how they united the contradictory discourses about women’s roles in 1950s America. Amanda Konkle suggests that Monroe’s star persona resonated with audiences precisely because it engaged with the era’s critical debates regarding femininity, sexuality, marriage, and political activism. Furthermore, she explores how Monroe drew from the techniques of Method acting and finely calibrated her performances to better mirror her audience’s anxieties and desires. Drawing both from Monroe’s filmography and from 1950s fan magazines, newspaper reports, and archived film studio reports, Some Kind of Mirror considers how her star persona was coauthored by the actress, the Hollywood publicity machine, and the fans who adored her. It is about why 1950s America made Monroe a star, but it is also about how Marilyn defined an era. Trade Review"Written with passion and verve, this meticulously researched and well-argued book is a valuable entry into our ongoing conversations about movie stars and their meanings in their original contexts as well as our own." -- Adrienne McLean * author of Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom *"Konkle brings fresh understanding to the Marilyn Monroe phenomenon, shedding light on her journey from sexpot to star, and revealing the complex construction and development of the Monroe image." -- Lucy Bolton * Queen Mary University of London *"Some Kind of Mirror is a fascinating study, a must-read for connoisseurs of Monroe's career, and a choice pick for public and college library Film Studies shelves. Highly recommended." * Midwest Book Review *"Highly recommended." * Choice *"Amanda Konkle has managed to add a fresh new angle to this ever-expanding topic area. From the outset, it is apparent that Konkle knows her subject extremely well and is committed to showing both Monroe’s underappreciated skills as an actress and how her constructed star persona reflected the timeframe in which she worked. The vast amount of research Konkle has employed to both her study of Monroe and American culture at the time is abundantly evident throughout." * Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television *Table of ContentsContents 1 Introduction: Playing Marilyn Monroe 2 Becoming a Star: The Publicity Buildup and Early Performances 3 Mrs. America: Marilyn Monroe and Marriage Anxiety 4 “It’s Kinda Personal and Embarrassing, Too”: Monroe, the Kinsey Reports, and the Double Standard 5 The Actress and Her Method: Resisting Playing Marilyn Monroe Conclusion: A Marilyn Monroe Type Filmography Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisBong Joon Ho won the Oscar® for Best Director for Parasite (2019), which also won Best Picture, the first foreign film to do so, and two other Academy Awards. Parasite was the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes. These achievements mark a new career peak for the director, who first achieved wide international acclaim with 2006’s monster movie The Host and whose forays into English-language film with Snowpiercer (2013) and Okja (2017) brought him further recognition. As this timely book reveals, even as Bong Joon Ho has emerged as an internationally known director, his films still engage with distinctly Korean social and political contexts that may elude many Western viewers. The Films of Bong Joon Ho demonstrates how he hybridizes Hollywood conventions with local realities in order to create a cinema that foregrounds the absurd cultural anomie Koreans have experienced in tandem with their rapid economic development. Film critic and scholar Nam Lee explores how Bong subverts the structures of the genres he works within, from the crime thriller to the sci-fi film, in order to be truthful to Korean realities that often deny the reassurances of the happy Hollywood ending. With detailed readings of Bong’s films from Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) through Parasite (2019), the book will give readers a new appreciation of this world-class cinematic talent.Trade Review“The Films of Bong Joon Ho is at once a path-breaking study of the director Bong Joon Ho—one of the most recognized and internationally acclaimed filmmakers currently active in South Korea—and his films and simultaneously a study of how the post-1987 South Korean film industry came into being. Drawing upon her own rich experience as a former staff writer and film critic in South Korea and with judicious use of relevant critical theories, Lee offers us both the larger sociopolitical, historical, and cultural context of Bong’s films as well as detailed analyses of a set of films, both critically received and commercially successful ones as well as relatively unknown earlier short films. This book is a great service not only to the fans of Bong but also to the general public who are interested in films of South Korea, as well as to the scholarly community of film studies and Korean studies.”— Namhee Lee, University of California, Los Angeles "For the legions of new fans of Bong Joon Ho, this timely book will demonstrate that the triumph of Parasite in the West was no fluke. Nam Lee demonstrates in loving detail just how Bong has managed over a two decade-long career of unprecedented critical and commercial success to condemn and critique contemporary society through the lens of satire, humor and sheer entertainment. It’s hard to think of a director better able to address both Korean controversies and universal anxieties and a writer better able to explicate these concerns."— David Desser, founding editor, the Journal of Japanese and Korean CinemaTable of ContentsTable of Contents List of Illustrations Preface Introduction Chapter 1 A New Cultural Generation Chapter 2 Cinematic “Perversions”: Tonal Shifts, Visual Gags and Techniques of Defamiliarization Chapter 3 Social Pujoris and the “Narratives of Failure”: Transnational Genre and Local Politics in Memories of Murder and The Host Chapter 4 Monsters Within: Moral Ambiguity and Anomie in Barking Dogs Never Bite and Mother Chapter 5 Beyond the Local: Global Politics and Neoliberal Capitalism in Snowpiercer and Okja Conclusion: Parasite, A New Beginning? Filmography Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisFrom multi-hyphenate mogul and host of The Breakfast Club and Comedy Central's Tha God's Honest Truth, Charlamagne Tha God, real talk on the many ways in which we've screwed up our world, and what we need to do to climb our way back.

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Book Synopsis“A brutally honest memoir that socks you in the gut with its candor” (Elton John and David Furnish) about lust, abuse, addiction, stardom, and redemption from Arrow and Teen Wolf actor Colton Haynes.In 2018, Colton Haynes woke up in a hospital. He’d had two seizures, lost vision in one eye, almost ruptured a kidney, and been put on an involuntary psychiatric hold. Not yet thirty, he knew he had to take stock of his life and make some serious changes if he wanted to see his next birthday. As he worked towards sobriety, Haynes allowed himself to become vulnerable for the first time and discovered profound self-awareness. He had millions of social media followers who constantly told him they loved him. But what would they think if they knew his true story? If they knew where he came from and the things he had done? Now, Colton bravely pulls back the curtain on his life and career, revealing the incredible highs and devastating lows. From his unorthodox childhood in a small Kansas town, to coming to terms with his sexuality, he keeps nothing back. By sixteen, he had been signed by the world’s top modeling agency and his face appeared on billboards. But he was still a broke, lonely, confused teenager, surrounded by people telling him he could be a star as long as he never let anyone see his true self. As Colton’s career in television took off, the stress of wearing so many masks and trying to please so many different people turned his use of drugs and alcohol into full-blown addiction. “In searing, honest prose, he tells a coming-of-age story that is utterly his own, yet surprisingly universal” (Bill Clegg, New York Times bestselling author)—of dreams deferred and dreams fulfilled; of a family torn apart and rebuilt; and of a man stepping into the light as no one but himself.Trade Review“Colton Haynes’s memoir is as provocative as it is moving. In searing, honest prose, he tells a coming-of-age story that is utterly his own, yet surprisingly universal.” —Bill Clegg, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man“Miss Memory Lane is a brutally honest memoir that socks you in the gut with its candor. Colton Haynes is a true survivor and shows us how conquering our demons in life is a never-ending journey.” —Elton John and David Furnish“By confronting his own past, Colton Haynes challenges us to reflect upon the brutality seething just under the surface of the Hollywood Dream.” —Saeed Jones, author of How We Fight For Our Lives“Pairing vulnerability with unflinching prose, actor Haynes debuts with a deeply affecting look at his path to self-acceptance….Fans will be left breathless by the grit and courage on display.” —Publishers Weekly“Haynes’s moving, open-hearted, courageous memoir is a complex story of familial losses and the loss of innocence, but it is nevertheless written with great simplicity. Readers will find it hard to resist.” —Library Journal (starred review)“A vulnerable meditation on gender, desire, and fame, compelling and nuanced, a sensitive self-portrait, woven from fragments of his past.” —Buzzfeed“Impossible to put down…This is a gripping memoir, and what shines through is Haynes’ clear-eyed wish to be honest with himself and with his readers about his actions. “ —Amazon Book Review

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Book SynopsisThis book engages with the relationship between ruins, dilapidation, and abandonment and cultural events performed within such spaces. Following the author’s fieldwork in the UK, Bosnia Herzegovina, Poland, Germany, Greece, and Sicily, chapters describe, investigate, and reflect upon live performance events which have taken place in sites of decay and abandonment. The book’s main focus is upon modern economic ruins and ruins of warfare. Each chapter provides several case studies based upon the author’s own site visits and interviews with actors, directors, producers, curators, writers, and other artists. The book contextualises these events within the wider framework of Ruin Studies and provides brief summaries of how we might understand the ruin in terms of time, politics, culture, and atmospheres. The book is particularly preoccupied with artists’ reasons and motivations for placing performance events in ruined spaces and how these work dramaturgically.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Ruining the Project, Subjectivities, Fields and Methods.- 2. Ruins in Context - Context in Ruins.- 3. Performing the Antiquary: Classical Ruins in the Greek Imaginary.- 4. Nature’s Ruins.- 5. Dissonance and Contestation: Ruining Heritage and its Alternatives.- 6. Legacies of War: Performing Balkan Ruins.- 7. Ruins of Capital.- 8. After Communism and the Cold War: a Ruined Inheritance.- 9. Conclusion: Ruining the Ruin or Pausing at a Partial View.-

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Book SynopsisAnalysing Gender in Performance brings together the fields of Gender Studies and Performance Analysis to explore how contemporary performance represents and interrogates gender. This edited collection includes a wide range of scholarly essays, as well as artists’ voices and their accounts of their works and practices. The Introduction outlines the book’s key approaches to concepts in English language gender discourses and gender’s intersectionalities, and sets out the approaches to performance analysis and methods of research employed by the various contributors. The book focuses on performances from the Global North, staged over the past fifty years. Case studies are diverse, ranging from site-specific, dance theatre, speculative drag, installation, and music video performances to Mabou Mines, Churchill, Shakespeare and Ibsen. Contributors explore how gender intersects with sexuality, social class, race, ethnicity, indigeneity, culture and history. Read individually or in tension with one another, the essays confront the contemporary complexities of analysing gender in performance. Table of Contents1 Introduction.Part I 1970s–1990s.2 Pina Bausch’s Kontakthof: Choreographies of Gender and Costume.3 Queer Becomings: The Ridiculous Theatrical Company’s Camille and Split Britches/Bloolips’ Belle Reprieve.4 Théâtre du Soleil and Ariane Mnouchkine: Living and Performing Gender Politics.5 Nora, Lucia, and Lear: Gender and Performance at Mabou Mines.6 Freaks and Not Freaks: Theatre and the Making of Crip Identity.7 Fires in the Mirror: Representations of Race, Gender and Class in Anna Deavere Smith’s Search for American Character.Part II Interruption: Artists Speak About Their Work.8 Black Women Performers: ‘I Don’t Want to Do Anything Else’.9 Trans-body-text: Exploring Performance Disruptions, a Discussion with Lazlo Pearlman.10 Embodied and En-sited Performance: Reflections on Gender in Cooking Miss Julie/Miss Julie Cooks and March of Women.11 A Manifesto of Living Self-portraiture (Identity, Transformation, and Performance).Part III 2000s–2020s.12 Love and Information by Caryl Churchill, or Sexuality and Gender in Non-binary Times.13 Gender and the Aesthetics of Occupation: Making Room for Women’s Labour at the Theatre.14 Performing Reproduction in an Age of Overproduction: Environmental Installations by Ai Hasegawa.15 Loose Wrists: Camp and Intersectional Politics in the Works of Cazwell, Todrick Hall, and Big Freedia.16 Riotous Assembly: Performing Gender and Social Justice in thisispopbaby’s RIOT.17 From Gimmick Casting to Standard Practice: Re-gendering Shakespeare in Performance.18 ‘Women’s Business’: Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife and the Reclamation of Black Australian History.19 Gender-Assemblages: The Scenographics of Sin Wai Kin.

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Book SynopsisThis monograph presents a specific experience of modernity within the context of Indian dance by looking at the transcultural journey of Indian dancer / choreographer Uday Shankar (1900b – 1977d). His popularity in Europe and America as an Oriental male dancer in the first half of the 20th century, and his worldwide recognition as the Ambassador of Indian culture, are brought into a historiographical perspective within the cultural and social reforms of early twentieth century India. By exploring his artistic journey beyond India in the period between the two world wars, and his experience of dance making, presentational technique and representation of India through various phases of his life, a path is forged to understanding the emergence of modernity in Indian dance.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Uday Shankar and Indian Dance History.- Chapter 2 Modern Dance? Placing Shankar’s Transculturality in Colonial South Asia.- Chapter 3 Dancing ‘Oriental’ Masculinity: Uday Shankar and his Experiments in Modern Dance.- Chapter 4 An attempt at creating a modern institution.- Chapter 5 Beyond the Proscenium with Dance, Magic, and Film.- Chapter 6 The Illusive Legacy.

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Book SynopsisIntroduction.- First Phase The 1880s and Stanislavsky's Amateur Years.- Second Phase 1903-08, Placing Improvisation in the Production Process.- Third Phase 1912-16, The First Studio and Stanislavsky's Offshoots.- Fourth Phase 1924-28 and Stanislavsky's Final Legacies of the 1930s.- Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisSince the mid-1960s, Peter Brötzmann has made a decisive impact on the international free jazz and improvized music scene; parallel to his musical activity, he also practices as a visual artist. This volume takes a look at the outstanding “double talent” from various scholarly perspectives. It is dedicated to the artistic crossing of boundaries, asking how the art and music genres influence each other, and what parallels or differences can be identified in terms of artistic concepts and expressive forms. The focus is on the word “free” – as an element in the name of the music genre free jazz and the record label FMP, co-founded by Peter Brötzmann. This points to a social dimension, but also to a creative musical or artistic principle in relation to the “free arts”. The book contains one of the last interviews with the artist. Interdisciplinary contribution on reciprocal influences between musical and artistic genres New academic research on Peter Brötzmann

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Book SynopsisAlfred Brendel und Peter Gülke pflegen die Kunst des Interpretierens auf einzigartige Weise: Brendel als weltberühmter Pianist, der auch Bücher über Musik publiziert, Peter Gülke als mehrfach für seine Sprach-Kunst des Interpretierens ausgezeichneter Autor, der auch Dirigent ist. In diesem Buch denken sie in einem intellektuell und emotional berührenden Ideen- und Erfahrungsaustausch gemeinsam über die Praxis des Interpretierens nach. Einerseits geschieht dies ganz konkret bezogen auf Schuberts und Beethovens Musik. Andererseits diskutieren sie über Grundsätzliches wie die Frage, welche Freiheit Musikerinnen und Musiker beim Aufführen von Musik haben, und über die Möglichkeiten, sinnvoll über Musik zu sprechen, das heißt: sie sprachlich zu interpretieren.Trade Review“... Belehrsam und vertieft philosophieren die beiden Herren über ihr Metier, widersprechen sich auch einmal und machen unterschiedliche Argumente geltend. ... Alfred Brendel und Peter Gülke nähern sich zwar mit den Erfahrungen ihres Interpretierens den Werken ...” (Neue musikalische Blätter, Mai 2021)“... Sprache interpretieren heisse Sprache «verstehen»; Musik interpretieren bedeute hingegen Musik «machen». Ganz so einfach, wie es Adornos berühmtes Diktum in lustvoller Übertreibung zuspitzt, ist es eben nicht: Es gibt verstehendes Musizieren und musikalisches Verstehen, die sich dort begegnen, wohin auch Sprache zielt. Hier kann man zwei Meistern ihres Fachs zuhören, die beides können.” (Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen, in: NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 4. Januar 2021)“Fortgeschrittene werden dagegen großen Gewinn aus den Dialogen der beiden Granden einer sehr reflektierten Annäherung an das Repertoire ziehen, aus einem offen gestalteten Gedankenaustausch voller überraschender Wendungen beim Mäandern durch das Beziehungsgeflecht zwischen den Komponisten und darüber hinaus – fazinierende Teilhabe an einem unfassbaren Erfahrungsschatz.” (Michael Wackerbauer, in: Neue Musikzeitung, Heft 2, 2021)“... Es ist für musikalische Praktiker wie Musik-Hörer, für Laien wie Professionelle aufschlußreich. Es bietet hohes Lesevergnügen ... Für bibliothekarische Musikbestände ist es vom allgemeinen „populären“ bis zum speziellen musikwissenschaftlichen Angebot ausgesprochen empfehlenswert.” (Albert Raffelt, in: Informationsmittel für Bibliotheken, informationsmittel-fuer-bibliotheken.de, Jg. 29, Heft 1, 2021)Table of ContentsVorwort.- Schuberts letzte Sonaten.- Gespräche.- Briefwechsel

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Book SynopsisYou can find him on the stage or in front of a film camera, in the director’s chair or at the mixing board—Lars Eidinger has many faces, and not just as an actor. His performances testify to a sheer, inexhaustible energy that makes every appearance a tour de force that infects and electrifies the audience in an almost magical way. No less can be expected from his photographic works, which are gathered together here for the first time in a publication. As diverse as the subjects of the pictures are, they still allow us to recognise Eidinger’s signature: elements of fi m and theatre unite to form a unique rhythm that transforms the everyday into a paradoxical world essence. Only one word can suitably describe the richness of these visual spheres and the way of seeing that they articulate: epic.

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Book SynopsisEd Watson, Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet for over 20 years is a unique talent; a widely celebrated collaborator in dance, photography and fashion. Each illustrated essay of this gorgeous volume focuses on a distinct aspect of Watson’s career. Leading art critic Sarah Crompton discusses his trajectory from young student to principal dancer and coach with The Royal Ballet. Wayne McGregor reflects on their long and fruitful collaboration. Longtime friend Charlotte MacMillan engages in a lively conversation with the man himself, while Gareth Pugh muses on the concept of duende. Dozens of images by leading photographers—including Rick Guest, Nick Knight, Anthony Crickmay, Kosmas Pavlos, Nadav Kander, Paul Smith, Laurence Ellis, Teddy Iborra Wicksteed, Liz Seagrove, Paul Grover, and Johan Persson—depict Watson throughout his career, in rehearsal, on fashion shoots, in the dressing room, and in stills from his famed performances. Together these words and images tell the story of a performer of extraordinary versatility, exceptional physicality, and a profound artistic sensibility.

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Book SynopsisMustafa Kirca explores the dark sides of Alan Ayckbourn's comedy by comparing the playwright's characters with those of Chekhov's drama and drawing a parallelism in the character portrayal of both artists. The significance of Ayckbourn's plays, following Chekhov's footsteps, particularly lies in his vivid portrayal of characters from everyday life with psychological depth. Kirca shows that the fine mix of comedy and tragedy in Ayckbourn's drama is conveyed through his realistic characterization contrary to the farcical style of his plays. This kind of character portrayal in Ayckbourn's plays brings him very close to Chekhov and establishes the known equilibrium between comedy and tragedy in his theatre. The study covers Ayckbourn's Absent Friends, Just Between Ourselves, Joking Apart, Season's Greetings, Woman in Mind, A Small Family Business, and Henceforward. From Chekhov's drama, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard are included to define the general Chekhovian character traits. The book is especially interesting for teachers, students, and for general readers who are interested in modern 'human comedies'.

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Book SynopsisThe voice traverses Beckett's work in its entirety, defining its space and its structure. Emanating from an indeterminate source situated outside the narrators and characters, while permeating the very words they utter, it proves to be incessant. It can alternatively be violently intrusive, or embody a calming presence. Literary creation will be charged with transforming the mortification it inflicts into a vivifying relationship to language. In the exploration undertaken here, Lacanian psychoanalysis offers the means to approach the voice's multiple and fundamentally paradoxical facets with regards to language that founds the subject's vital relation to existence. Far from seeking to impose a rigid and purely abstract framework, this study aims to highlight the singularity and complexity of Beckett's work, and to outline a potentially vast field of investigation.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisTo describe women in film history as "invisible" may seem strange as throughout film history, women on the silver screen have given audiences their version of what it is to be a woman. And as film stars they have always been associated with the glamour of the film industry - the living embodiment of female attraction and pleasure. In Making the invisible visible, however, a group of researchers dissect the underrepresentation of women in areas of film culture often overlooked. Despite some significant differences - between countries, between eras, between kinds of job - production teams and film crews have almost always been men. Still today, many film professions are dominated by men. The authors explore womens scope for action in a variety of professional roles, based for example on discussions of LGBTQ+ identities in the film industry. The texts also present fresh perspectives on women actors and the nature of celebrity. Contributors: Elisabet Björklund, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Linnaeus University, Sweden. Dagmar Brunow, Associate Professor in Film Studies at Linnaeus University, Sweden. Eirik Frisvold Hanssen, Head of the Film and Broadcasting Section at the National Library of Norway. Christopher Natzén, Research coordinator at the National Library of Sweden. Ingrid Ryberg, filmmaker and Senior Lecturer in Culture, Aesthetics and Media - University of Gothenburg. Tytti Soila, Professor Emeritus in Cinema Studies at Stockholm University.

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Book Synopsis

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