A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes [Paperback]

Richard Kostelanetz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415937647 | ISBN-13: 978-0415937641 | Publication Date: August 15, 2001 | Edition: 2nd

A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes recognizes that change is a driving force in all the arts. It covers major trends in music, dance, theater, film, visual art, sculpture, and performance art--as well as architecture, science, and culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Kostelanetz, an independent writer, filmmaker, performing artist, and self-described collective composed of twelve industrious elves, has added 462 pages and an eight-page glossy photo insert to the first edition of this work (LJ 2/15/94). Updates include revised entries and bibliographies, entirely new entries, and helpful new name and subject indexes. Covering artists, performers, movements, and styles from music, film, literature, the visual arts, dance, and theater, the entries demonstrate a unique subjectivity and distinctive flair without sacrificing quality or standards. Kostelanetz has two main criteria for including avant-garde works: aesthetic innovation and initial unacceptability, plus his own tastes and preferences for art that is extreme, unique, distinct, coherent, witty, technological, and esthetically resonant. Simply choosing Las Vegas as an entry, for example, is in itself interesting; Kostelanetz!s full theory of what is avant-garde emerges as one explores the entries and their Ambrose Bierce$like definitions. The avant-garde aspects of mainstream artists (e.g., John Lennon, Henry Ford, Daryl Dawkins) are also investigated. Web-weary students researching avant-garde art will be quick converts to the pleasures of browsing over surfing if guided to this work by au courant librarians. Since the Dictionary of Art (LJ 9/15/96) has meager coverage of the avant-garde, this book is recommended for all libraries."Marc Meola, Coll. of New Jersey Lib., Ewing
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

In the words of the author, a prolific writer and student of avant-garde topics, "this book was written not just to be consulted but to be read from beginning to end." It draws upon his knowledge of literature, art, architecture, performing arts, movements, and esthetics. He is admittedly opinionated in his judgment of artists and their works. The artists included are mainly twentieth century, with no birth date earlier than Edward Lear's (1812). They include such well-known subjects as Muybridge, Bierce, and Stravinsky and such contemporary figures as environmental-artist Christo and performance-artist Laurie Anderson. The entries for Kinetic Art, Serial Music, Mixed-Means Theater, Zaum (poetry), SoHo, and Something Else Press create a rich image of a period.

Entries are alphabetically arranged, with dates and alternative names. The work is highly readable. One entry leads to another quite seamlessly through the use of asterisks placed after the mention of related entries (e.g., Slonimsky, Nicholas leads to Var{Š}ese, Edgard; Ives, Charles; Dada; and Constructivism). There are cross-references to appropriate headings, "Kovacs, Ernie see Television." Most entries include one or more references at the end, and the "Postface" includes a bibliography of 19 works consulted. The initials of nine scholars, authors, and critics appear on the entries they have contributed. Small black-and-white photographs add interest.

This work is shaped by names so familiar that, in some cases, they no longer seem avant-garde: Eisenstein in film, James Joyce in literature, Merce Cunningham in dance, Buckminster Fuller in architecture, Mary Quant in fashion, Allen Ginsberg in poetry. Some entries, such as Futurism (Russian), lead to numerous related entries that may be less familiar.

This small volume, bringing together a wealth of information on esthetic innovation, will make avant-garde art more accessible to everyone and will be a welcome addition to art reference collections. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2nd edition (August 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415937647
• ISBN-13: 978-0415937641
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #475,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Individual entries on Richard Kostelanetz's work in several fields appear in various editions of Readers Guide to Twentieth-Century Writers, Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature, Contemporary Poets, Contemporary Novelists, Postmodern Fiction, Webster's Dictionary of American Writers, The HarperCollins Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Directory of American Scholars, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in American Art, NNDB.com, Wikipedia.com, and Britannica.com, among other distinguished directories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as accurate or complete as it could have been., February 27, 2005

By 

Tom Furgas (Youngstown, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes (Paperback)

Sorry to say, this dictionary of the avant-garde has it's gaps, misinterpretations, and inaccuracies. It is quite valuable for the most part, but the aforementioned problems should be addressed before the next edition hits the racks. There is scant mention of free improvisation, Derek Bailey (and his many contemporaries), Paul Klee, Al Hansen (and many other valuable Fluxus artists indivudually) and much else, but there are referances to one-off a-g practitioners (such as that Republican apologist P.J. O'Rourke) and others. Weird...maybe RK was trying to use his dictionary to stir up debate, but that's not what dictionaries are fundamentally for, I think.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN AMAZING BOOK!, July 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes (Hardcover)

this book helped me to understand the meaning of avant-garde, and help push towards improving my knowledge of cultures which are unknown to many. if you want to spend that much money on a book then go ahead and get it, ASAP!