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Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book
[PAGE 1-3 missing] This dissertation argues for the past and continuing importance of the special edition book. Focusing in particular on one instance of books/artworks of this sort, the writer, Jane Elizabeth Commin, presents several arguments in order to underline her thesis. tn the ï¬ rst place s...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of English Language and Literature
2024
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| _version_ | 1867611268845666304 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Commin, Jane |
| author_browse | Commin, Jane |
| author_facet | Commin, Jane |
| author_sort | Commin, Jane |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | [PAGE 1-3 missing] This dissertation argues for the past and continuing importance of the special edition book. Focusing in particular on one instance of books/artworks of this sort, the writer, Jane Elizabeth Commin, presents several arguments in order to underline her thesis. tn the ï¬ rst place she looks at the history of the institution of the artist’s book and livre d’artiste. Reviewing the history of such a book, she relates the artist's book to the history of aestheticism as a 19th century artistic and literary movement, and proceeds to show the artist’s book is an extreme exempliï¬ cation of the principle of beauty central to the artistic movement. In the second chapter she focuses on a collaboration between the English-language South African poet Patrick Cullinan and the equally well-known South African artist Judith Mason. Drawing on interviews with both collaborators conducted by the writer, the dissertation outlines both the artist and writer's perceptions as to their practise and the nature of the collaboration itself. This chapter is then followed by theoretical excursus in which the theories of the French semiotician Claude Gandelman are outlined in their relevance to the reading of the word/image nexus discussed. In particular, the haptic/optic division Gandelman theorises is shown to be particularly useful in accounting for the unique aesthetic experience generated by special edition books in general. In the central chapter of the thesis, these relations are demonstrated through a close reading of the way in which the image works with the text and the text with the image in the speciï¬ c instance of the 1992 special edition of Patrick Cullinan’s Selected Poems I 96!-1994 (Johannesburg: The Artist’s Press). ' The thesis comes to the conclusion that, while the special edition or artist’s book is an elite form of artmaking, it nevertheless embodies values which go to the heart of the artistic and literary experience and therefore is in fact a defence of the artistic experience itself‘. To support her argument the writer has drawn from interviews she conducted with South African artists and writers, including: Patrick Cullinan, Judith Mason, Pippa Skotnes, Vivian van der Merwe, Fiona Moodie, Lyn Smuts and Gregory Kerr. These interviews are included in addenda at the end of the dissertation. The writer also draws from the work of literary and art critics and theorists, including: R.V. Johnson, Johanna Drucker, Roger Kimball, Roland Barthes, Elaine Scarry, Claude Gandelman, Wendy Steiner, Octavio Paz and George Steiner. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40092 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Department of English Language and Literature |
| publisherStr | Department of English Language and Literature |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40092 Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book Commin, Jane English Language and Literature [PAGE 1-3 missing] This dissertation argues for the past and continuing importance of the special edition book. Focusing in particular on one instance of books/artworks of this sort, the writer, Jane Elizabeth Commin, presents several arguments in order to underline her thesis. tn the ï¬ rst place she looks at the history of the institution of the artist’s book and livre d’artiste. Reviewing the history of such a book, she relates the artist's book to the history of aestheticism as a 19th century artistic and literary movement, and proceeds to show the artist’s book is an extreme exempliï¬ cation of the principle of beauty central to the artistic movement. In the second chapter she focuses on a collaboration between the English-language South African poet Patrick Cullinan and the equally well-known South African artist Judith Mason. Drawing on interviews with both collaborators conducted by the writer, the dissertation outlines both the artist and writer's perceptions as to their practise and the nature of the collaboration itself. This chapter is then followed by theoretical excursus in which the theories of the French semiotician Claude Gandelman are outlined in their relevance to the reading of the word/image nexus discussed. In particular, the haptic/optic division Gandelman theorises is shown to be particularly useful in accounting for the unique aesthetic experience generated by special edition books in general. In the central chapter of the thesis, these relations are demonstrated through a close reading of the way in which the image works with the text and the text with the image in the speciï¬ c instance of the 1992 special edition of Patrick Cullinan’s Selected Poems I 96!-1994 (Johannesburg: The Artist’s Press). ' The thesis comes to the conclusion that, while the special edition or artist’s book is an elite form of artmaking, it nevertheless embodies values which go to the heart of the artistic and literary experience and therefore is in fact a defence of the artistic experience itself‘. To support her argument the writer has drawn from interviews she conducted with South African artists and writers, including: Patrick Cullinan, Judith Mason, Pippa Skotnes, Vivian van der Merwe, Fiona Moodie, Lyn Smuts and Gregory Kerr. These interviews are included in addenda at the end of the dissertation. The writer also draws from the work of literary and art critics and theorists, including: R.V. Johnson, Johanna Drucker, Roger Kimball, Roland Barthes, Elaine Scarry, Claude Gandelman, Wendy Steiner, Octavio Paz and George Steiner. 2024-07-02T09:15:16Z 2024-07-02T09:15:16Z 2002 2024-07-01T13:22:49Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40092 eng application/pdf Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | English Language and Literature Commin, Jane Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book |
| title_full | Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book |
| title_fullStr | Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book |
| title_full_unstemmed | Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book |
| title_short | Word and image : Patrick Cullinan and Judith Mason's Selected Poems 1961-1994 : a case for the special edition artist's book |
| title_sort | word and image patrick cullinan and judith mason s selected poems 1961 1994 a case for the special edition artist s book |
| topic | English Language and Literature |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40092 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT comminjane wordandimagepatrickcullinanandjudithmasonsselectedpoems19611994acaseforthespecialeditionartistsbook |