Throughout this course I’ve continued to gain new insights into the idea of modernism in Paris in the 1920s. The readings for our very first day of class discussed Taruskin’s assessment of the idea of lifestyle modernism in Paris, a movement away from romanticism towards something more deliberately shallow.1 The new generation of composers and […]
In the course of my research on Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, an idea came into my head that I should have considered before but never really needed to. How do we critique or write about ballet? It seems like nothing in academia can really train you from this apart from gaining personal experience in the matter. I […]
Reception towards the influx of black cultural products in 1920s France consisted of equal parts attraction and enjoyment but also revulsion and fear. Reading through French author’s impressions of La Revue Nègre, which they describe as “soft, splenetic, brutal, lustful, or sad,” “something animal,” and “frenetic and devilish,” it is clear that what 1920s Parisians […]
One of the first thoughts that came to my mind when deciding on Coco Chanel for my paper topic was how she no doubt changed women’s’ fashion forever with her impact on social change and push for women’s’ independence. Chanel’s styles such as trousers and suits for women, popularizing skin tan, the color black, branded […]