Disappearing Through the Skylight

1、Disappearing Through the SkylightDisappearing Through the SkylightOsborne B. Hardison Jr.1) The authorO.B. Hardison, Jr. (1928 -1990) was born in San Diego, California in 1928. He was educated at the University of North Carolina and the University of Wisconsin. He has taught in Princeton and the Uni

2、versity of North Carolina. He is the author of Lyrics and Elegies (1958), The Enduring Monument (1962), English Literary Criticism: The Renaissance (1964), Toward Freedom and Dignity: The Humanities and the Idea of Humanity (1973), Entering the Maze: Identity and Change in Modern Culture (1981) and

3、Disappearing Through the Skylight (1980). 2) The titleDisappearing Through the Skylight is not only the title of this chapter but also the title of the book. The book, also has a sub-title, “Culture and Technology in the Twentieth Century”. “This book is about the ways culture has changed in the pas

4、t century, changing the identities of all those born into it. Its metaphor for the effect of change on culture is disappearance”. As for the “disappearance”, he says, “In the nineteenth century, science presented nature as a group of objects set comfortably and solidly in the middle distance before

5、the eyes of the beholder.Today, nature has slipped, perhaps finally, beyond our field of vision.”II. Theme of the passageThe central theme of this passage is “disappearance” - nature disappears, history disappears, and even the solid banks disappears. The metaphorical phrase “Disappearing Through th

6、e Skylight” is used to describe the changed appearance of modern banks which seem to be disappearing. II. Theme of the passageII. Theme of the passageThe central theme of this passage is “disappearance” - nature disappears, history disappears, and even the solid banks disappears. The metaphorical ph

7、rase “Disappearing Through the Skylight” is used to describe the changed appearance of modern banks which seem to be disappearing. II. Theme of the passageAnother important idea the author puts forward is the universalizing tendency of science and technology. The basic concepts of science are unders

8、tood, accepted and adopted by scientists all over the world. There is only one science of thermodynamics, genetics, etc. II. Theme of the passageThe third concept is, “If man creates machines, machines in turn shape their creators.” The modern man is no longer a unique individual, the product of a s

9、pecial environment and culture. The homogeneous world he now lives in universalizes him. He becomes a cosmopolitan, a citizen of the world.II. Theme of the passageFinally, the disappearance of history is a form of liberation and this feeling of liberation is often expressed through play. The playful

10、ness of science has produced game theory and virtual particles, in art it has produced the paintings of Picasso and Joan Miro and so on. IV. Rhetorical devicesesMeanwhile, the author uses figurative language to make his ideas more vivid and forceful. Metaphor Analogy Rhetorical question RepetitionV.

11、 Organizational patternThe whole material is clearly and logically organized. The authors views are presented at the beginning of a paragraph: science is committed to the universal and developed or illustrated in the paragraph itself or by succeeding paragraphs. Major examples 1) automobile industry

12、 (para 28) 2) modern art (para 913) 3) modern culture (para.14-15) 4) architect of banks (1619)Francis Picabia皮卡比亞(1879-1953) sA French painter, poet, typographist, associated with both the Dada and Surrealist art movements.French Dadalist/Surrealist painterFrancis PicabiaMarcel DuchampThe original

13、FountainPablo Picasso(1881-1973)Pablo PicassoThree Musicians（1921）Guernica（1937） Joan Miro(1893-1983)Dada 達(dá)達(dá)主義 達(dá)達(dá)主義達(dá)達(dá)主義是一場(chǎng)興起于一戰(zhàn)時(shí)期的蘇黎世，波及視覺(jué)藝術(shù)視覺(jué)藝術(shù)、文學(xué)文學(xué)（主要是詩(shī)歌）、戲劇和美術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)美術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)等領(lǐng)域的文藝運(yùn)動(dòng)。達(dá)達(dá)主義是20世紀(jì)西方文藝發(fā)展歷程中的一個(gè)重要流派，是第一次世界大戰(zhàn)顛覆、摧毀舊有歐洲社會(huì)和文化秩序的產(chǎn)物。達(dá)達(dá)主義作為一場(chǎng)文藝運(yùn)動(dòng)持續(xù)的時(shí)間并不長(zhǎng)，波及范圍卻很廣，對(duì)20世紀(jì)的一切現(xiàn)代主義現(xiàn)代主義文藝流派都產(chǎn)生了影響。Dada or Dadai

14、sm Many Dadaists believed that the reason and logic of bourgeois capitalist society had led people into war. They expressed their rejection of that ideology in artistic expression that appeared to reject logic and embrace chaos and irrationality. Anti-artAnti-art is a loosely-used term applied to an array of concepts and attitudes that reject prior definitions of art and question art in general. Anti-art tends to conduct this questioning and rejection from the vantage point of art. The term is associated with the Dada movement a