Punctuations: How the Arts Think the Political

Description

In Punctuations Michael J. Shapiro examines how punctuation—conceived not as a series of marks but as a metaphor for the ways in which artists engage with intelligibility—opens pathways for thinking through the possibilities for oppositional politics. Drawing on Theodor Adorno, Alain Robbe-Grillet, and Roland Barthes, Shapiro demonstrates how punctuation's capacity to create unexpected rhythmic pacing makes it an ideal tool for writers, musicians, filmmakers, and artists to challenge structures of power. In works ranging from film scores and jazz compositions to literature, architecture, and photography, Shapiro shows how the use of punctuation reveals the contestability of dominant narratives in ways that prompt readers, viewers, and listeners to reflect on their acceptance of those narratives. Such uses of punctuation, he theorizes, offer models for disrupting structures of authority, thereby fostering the creation of alternative communities of sense from which to base political mobilization. Cover Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Deferrals, Punctuations, Media Textualities Chapter One. How “Popular” Music Thinks the Political Chapter Two. Urban Punctuations: Symphonic and Dialectic Chapter Three. Architectural Punctuations: The Politics of “Event Spaces” Chapter Four. Image Punctuations: From the Photographic to the Cinematic Chapter Five. Holocaust Punctuations: Handke, Kertész, and Sebald Notes Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W X Z