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WORLD of the 1925 ISSUE 01 /March 2014
Art and Literature DISCUSSION OF MAJOR VISUAL, MUSICAL AND LITERARY WORKS OF THE YEAR
Politics and Culture A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF 1925
A YEAR TO REMEMBER Warandthustriedtolivetothefull. This new perception is accompanied and naturally followed by outburst of production in science, visual arts, cinematography, technology and, most certainly, literature.
Beginning to work on this magazine,Icouldnotimaginewhat a pleasure it will be and how many fascinating personal discoveries I will make. Now, after examining the events of that year, I cannot helpthinkingwhatanimpactthose eventshavemadeontheworldasit I hope that after reading this issue is today. Youwouldfallinlovewith1925,just After the World War I nothing was as I did. the same, people, social values, the life itself has changed. The Sincerely Yours, second decade of XX century is a Tustykbayeva Aisulu time, when people still remembered the horrors of the
Pablo PICASSO Three Dancers
Hitler published "Mein Kampf" - the foundation of the Nazi propaganda At the 1st of December in London the Locarno treaty was signed. The main aim of this pact was to secure peace in Europe after the World War I. The leaders of the conference were Austin Chamberlain of England, Aristide Briand of France, and Gustav Stresemann of Germany (see the picture below). The Locarno treaty was a symbol of global goodwill and promoted diplomacy above all the other ways of resolving problems amongst states.
POLITICS and HISTORY of theTIME "Mussolini dissolved Italian parlament and established his dictatorship."
Due to Locarno Pact, 1925 might be claimed to be a part of the period of global interwar peace. Since World War I turned out to be unprecedented in a way that no war before did involve so many states and people. It changed many aspect of political, social and cultural life. And people in 1925 felt that change very acutely.
declare….in front of the Italian people……that I alone assume the political, moral and historic responsibility for everything that has happened. Italy wants peace and quiet, work and calm. I will give these things with love if possible and with force if necessary."
Locarno treaty was also a way to clarify the boarders between Germany and France, and Germany and Belgium. It was a political move to ensure that Germany would not use aggressive ways to resolve those issues. However, in historical perspective that pact In January, 1925 Benito Mussolini dissolved has disabled many political leaders from parliament and declared himself a dictator. In taking actions against Fascism, which gave his speech to Italian people he said: "I Hitler an advantage in promoting Nazism Meanwhile, after two years of prison, Hitler returned to his political activity. He published "Mein Kampf", reformulated the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and became its leader.
Art Deco Is an art movement, which was first
presented in Paris at Exposition Internationale des Arts DĂŠcoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925. Containing traditional folk ornamentation along with sharp geometric elements, Art Deco is an indicator of a transition to mechanization, which affected everyday life of the people in the Machine Age.
Chrysler Building Famous building in New York is one of the most prominent examples of the Art Deco
Max ERNST The Beautiful Season
Visual Art
Kurt SCHWITTERS (elikan)
Schwitters famous collage is exhibited in The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Working on this painting, the artist sought to break free from priori Constructivist structures, he wanted to achieve simplicity and universal expression.
Vassily KANDINSKY In the Blue
This picture is exhibited in Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf. The artist exploits geometric form, while retaining certain freedom from sheer geometrisation. This work has a touch of playfulness expressed in the color choice.
Paul KLEE
The Goldfish
Klee's work is understood to be a metaphor for the life, where things are ordinary as plants, fishes and ripples, but there is also a room for something as magnificent and graceful as goldfish, shown in this picture. This work is exhibited in Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf
Edward HOPPER
House by the Railroad
This picture is claimed to be an expression more of Hopper's imagination rather than actual Victorian house near the railroad. Hopper is believed to convey his vision of world by depicting extravagant pieces of American architecture
Max BECKMANN
Carnival: The Artist and His Wife
Other works of visual art include Pierre BONNARD "La fenêtre", Georges BRAQUE "FruitonaTableclothwithaFruitdish",Joan MIRÓ "Stars in Snails' Sexes", Henri MATISSE "Decorative Figure on an Ornamental Ground", Piet MONDRIAN "Lozenge Composition with Red, Black, Blue, and Yellow"
POPULAR CULTURE “atSubscribe now, our incredible introductory offer of ten cents an issue, and we’ll throw in an automatic potato-peeling machine! “ NEW YORKER IS FIRST PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY 21ST
The New Yorker was
created with the purpose to cover the cultural life of the city, but this magazine turned out to be something more. Throughout the history of its existence, it gained nationwide popularity and became a brand because of its famous cartoons, witty articles with customary touch of humor, sensible critique, exacting policy of fact checking and general commentary on pop culture and social issues. It has been a useful tool for promoting literature by publishingworksofwidevarietyof contributors from Dorothy Parker to Haruki Murakami.
MUSIC OF THE TIME Most Popular Music Vernon Dalhart ....... The Prisoner's Song Ben Bernie..............Sweet Georgia Brown Bessie Smith..............................St Louis Blues Marion Harris...............................Tea For Two Al Jolson.................................................All Alone Paul Whiteman.............................Charleston Additionally, a great number of pieces of classical music, such as B茅la Bart贸k's "Dance Suite", Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 2, "Iron and Steel" , George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and etc. was produced
CHARLESTON is a provocative dance popular during roaring 20s, used as a form of a self-expression especially by flappers because it was banned and regarded as too scandalous
Balto
Alaska, 1925, diphtheria epidemic imposed a serious threat to human lives. Through almost complete darkness and severe climate of Alaska Balto lead a dog sled, transporting a vital antitoxin to Nome, thus saving lives of children.
Monkey Scopes Trial Famous court case a.k.a. The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes. A school teacher was accused of teaching evolution in a statefunded school, which was against the law. This trail attracted public attention due to involvement of distinguished jurists on the both sides of the trail.
LIFE STYLE and FASHION
“20s is a decade famous for young rebellious women, called flappers. They tried to resist social pressure such as inflicted gender roles. Flappers promoted their massage of liberation through certain life style and appearance. Usually they wore short haircuts and make-up,smoked,drankalcohol and voted.
Sun Also Rises Hemingway started writing his famous novelin1925.Oneofitsmaincharactersisa flapper, whose name is Lady Brett Ashley. She is a representation of flappers and an embodiment of sexual liberation of women in 1920s.
The Flappers' life style After the World War I, women's attitude towards such activities as smoking and alcohol consumption has changed. The flappers were making a statement out of their life style. They broke up with Victorian morality and craved for gender equality on social as well as sexual issues. Youngsters of 20s was comfortable with their sexuality what resulted in so called first modern sexual revolution, followed by second in 60s and third in 70s.
ENORMOUSLY CONSEQUENTIAL INVENTION OF 1925 At 25th of March John Logie Baird publicly demonstrated his "televisor" in London. Later, in June, Charles Francis Jenkins achieves the first synchronized transmission of pictures and sound, using 48 lines, and a mechanical system. By introducing television these inventions drastically changed society. Besides Coolidge being the first president, whose inauguration was broadcasted by radio, 1925 was marked by many other, trivial technological achievements such as automatic potatopeeling machine and Scotch tape. Also a new type of accommodation - motel was invented
CINEMATOGRAPHY
ThefilmBattleshipPotemkinby S. Eisenstein is justly regarded as a masterpiece of cinematography. It portrays the beginning of the Soviet revolution in 1905. Although the film is a Soviet propaganda, it is a masterful depiction of social injustice, which moves even today's sophisticated audience
The Gold Rush The events of the movie take place at Alaska at 1898. Main characters are in a search of gold. Although it is a comedy, the picture is more about ability to endure many difficulties of hunger, frost, wild beasts and greedy rivals on a way to a better life. Now a movie classic, it features such famous scenes as the Lone Prospector (Chaplin) eating his boot and etc.
Critical Acclaim “The Gold Rush” is regarded as one of the most prominent films ever produced. In 1998, the American Film Institute included “The Gold Rush” to the list of 100 greatest films ever made. Moreover, a director, a screenwriter and the star of the film, Charlie Chaplin stated that film to be “the picture that I want to be remembered by.”
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA IS TH INSIDE YOUR MIND! At the September 6th, 1925, Universal Pictures realized a film, based on a French novel called Le Fantômedel'Opéra. Thatmoviewonacriticalacclaim duetosuchfactorsasagrandandmeticulousreplicaof the Palais Garnier, Paris Opera House, and Lon Chaney's self-made make up. Interesting fact: at the scene,wherethePhantomrevealshisterrifyingface, some people in audience screamed and fell unconscious. The Phantom of the Opera has been a huge success in the film industry. Moreover, that film became a recognizable brand. In 1925 Rolls-Royce replaced one of its models of cars called the Silver Ghost, by the "Phantom". Besides mentionded ones, film industy produced many other movies such as Ben-Hur, The Lost World, A Road to Yesterday, the Wizard of Oz, the Big Parade, the Freshman and etc.
LITERATURE
"SHE
14 October 1922 “Mrs. Dalloway has branched into a book; and I adumbrate here a study of insanity and suicide; the world seen by the sane and the insane side by side--something like that.“
fromWoolf's diary
Social System
At the very conception of the idea, Woolf wanted to include only the character of Mrs. Dalloway, who would eventually die at the end of her party; however, shortly after visit to Lady Ottoline Morel, the author changed her mind, deeply affected by insincerity and vanity of human beings. At the 19 June 1923 she wrote: "I want to give life and death, sanity and insanity; I want to criticize the social system, and to show it at work at its most." intense". . . .
Death, Madness, Human Nature...
In this novel Virginia Woolf interrogates profound philosophical issues such as fear of death, mental illness, social oppression, homosexuality, atheism and etc. The character of Septimus serves the function of conveying many of those issues, nevertheless, using the technique of free indirect discourse, Woolf offers different perspective on the same issues and shows how different people react differently and pay attention to different things. Thus, while raising those philosophical questions,Woolf leaves the reader free to choose his or her own opinion on them.
E FELT SOMEHOW VERY LIKE HIM-THE YOUNG MAN WHO HAD KILLED HIMSELF. SHE FELT GLAD THAT HE HAD DONE IT; THROWN IT AWAY"
A FASCINATING STORY OF WEALTH, HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, DECEPTIVE NATURE OF IDEALS, CORRUPTION OF UPPER-CLASS AND 1920s !
Fitzgerald regarded this work as his masterpiece. Notably, just as the poem by T.S. Eliot, written in the same year, The Great Gatsby was influenced by J.Conrad's The Heart of Darkness. This is a story of a myserious man, called Gatsby, who continuously throws lavish parties. The story reveals many problems, concealed behind the splendid material background.
Prohibition The novel is set in opulent New York during the time of Volstead Act, or more formally, The National Prohibition Act, which illegalized the production, sale, and transport of "intoxicating liquors". This plays an important role since the prohibition allowed Jay Gatsby to become so rich so fast by bootleggeing. However, the novel itself was also banned and is included in the top list of Banned & Challenged Classics of American Library Association.
IN THE TOP LIST OF BANNED BOOKS Viverra et erat Nunc erat velit, aliquet non consectetur non, placerat eget sapien. Donec pellentesque, enim ac gravida congue, lorem velit aliquet turpis, non adipiscing mauris dui at nisi. Nulla lobortis sagittis ligula, nec tristique nisl iaculis a. Proin cursus mi a nunc bibendum fermentum. Integer ultricies arcu et nunc interdum id sagittis mauris pharetra. Duis elementum aliquam eros, nec egestas orci.
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MAJOR LITERATIRE EVENTS
At the December 28th, famous Russian poet Sergei Yesenin hanged himself in a hotel room in Leningrad. Prior to commiting suicide he wrote the poem "Goodbye, my friend, goodbye!" with his own blood instead of ink due to its absence. Eminent English playwright George Bernard Shaw won Nobel Prize Puliziter Prize of the year went to the novelcalledSoBigbyEdnaFerberanda play, written by Sidney Howard called They Knew What They Wanted.
PUBLICATIONS
Franz Kafka "The Trial"
The list of modernist publications includes Franz Kafka's posthumously published novel "The Trial", a story of Josef K, longing to succeed bank worker, who gets arrested one morning. The most interesting thing about this book is that neither the protagonist nor the reader will ever know what Josef K was accused of. Moreover, regardless of how hard he tries, the protagonist is unable to extricate himself. Intricate structure, abundance of images, perplexing characters make this story so different from most of
The Hollow Man The Hollow Man is a poem, written by T.S. Eliot. It also continuous the Waste Land in a sense of the style and content. It starts with the lines: "Mistah Kurtz - he dead", meaning the character from the Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, and "A penny for the Old Guy", meaning Guy Fawkes. The poem is narrated by one of the Hollow Men, lamentation that everything they do or say is meaningless. They live as if in Hell, though they are unable of committing violent act, which would be a reason for them to go to Hell. Later the poet writes that Hollow Men are living in a world of broken images and symbols that they pray to broken stones because they are unable to be bold and kiss somebody when they have a desire to. Hollow Men are afraid to look or to be looked upon. The author later concludes that he expect the world to end with bright exposure, but the it is ended for Hollow Men with a mere whimper. A
Other works of literature Amongst other great literary works produced in 1925 are "The Painted Veil" by W. Somerset Maugham, Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy", "The Manhattan Transfer" by John Dos Passos, Aldous Huxley's "Those Barren Leaves", "Carry On, Jeeves" by P. G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie's "The Secret of Chimneys", "Arrowsmith" by Sinclair Lewis and many more.
This picture shows how people in 1925 imagined the city of 1950