SKU: 95113920883

Total Expansion of the Letter: Avant-Garde Art and Language After Mallarm

Sale price$36.46 Regular price$40.51
Save 10%

Pay in installments of $10.13 with ShopPay, AfterPay and Klarna

Shipping Estimate
USA
  • USA
  • CAN

Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Aug 24 - Aug 29

Promo Codes Available:

For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15

Description

Total Expansion of the Letter: Avant-Garde Art and Language After MallarmHow cubism and Dada radically reimagined the social nature of language, following the utopian poetic vision of Stphane Mallarm. At the outset of the twentieth century, language became a visual medium and a philosophical problem for European avant garde artists. In Total Expansion of the Letter, art historian Trevor Stark offers a provocative history of this "linguistic turn," centered on the radical doubt about the social function of language that

How cubism and Dada radically reimagined the social nature of language, following the utopian poetic vision of Stéphane Mallarmé.

At the outset of the twentieth century, language became a visual medium and a philosophical problem for European avant-garde artists. In Total Expansion of the Letter, art historian Trevor Stark offers a provocative history of this "linguistic turn," centered on the radical doubt about the social function of language that defined the avant-garde movements. Major cubists and Dadaists--including Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and Tristan Tzara--appropriated bureaucratic paperwork, newspapers, popular songs, and advertisements, only to render them dysfunctional and incommunicative. In doing so, Stark argues, these figures contended with the utopian vision of the late nineteenth-century poet Stéphane Mallarmé, who promised a "total expansion of the letter."

In his poems, Mallarmé claimed, "the act of writing was scrutinized down to its origins." This scrutiny, however, delivered his work into an indeterminate zone between mediums, social practices, and temporalities--a paradox that reverberates through Stark's wide-ranging case studies in the history of the avant-garde. Stark examines Picasso's nearly abstract works of 1910, which promised to unite painting and writing at the brink of illegibility; the cubists' "hope of an anonymous art," expressed in newspaper collages and industrial colors; the collaborative, cacophonous invention of "simultaneous poems" by the Dadaists in Zurich during World War I; and Duchamp's artistic exploration of chance in gambling and finance. Each of these cases reflected the avant-garde's transformative encounter with the premise of Mallarmé's poetics: that language--the very medium of human communication and community--is perpetually in flux and haunted by emptiness.

Shipping Notes
  • Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
  • Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
  • Delivery to the USA:
  1. Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
  • If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
  • We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
  • Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
  • To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
  • Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
SKU: 95113920883

Discover Niche Categories That Outsell

Top-Converting Item to Boost Your Average Order

4.6 ★★★★★
Based on 24 reviews
Sort
Highest Rating
Newest First
Oldest First
Product Reviews
D
Debby & Brian
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
Cozy Omegaverse
Format: Kindle
This is the true definition of Cozy Omegaverse. LA wedding coordinator meets her pack at the location for a couple’s destination wedding. Low angst because they are scent matched high heat with heats and knots. Everything you love about this genre with very little anxiety. Simply a fun experience to read and a book I will comeback to when I’m in a slump. I simply love reading this book
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2026
I
Verified Purchase
Iputmybookdownforthis
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 4
Cute Omegaverse story
Format: Kindle
3.75 stars and 2 for spice. Adorable Omegaverse story about a wedding planner who has to go to a small town to plan a wedding for a movie star. While there, she meets her pack. This covers her struggles of not living there but trying to keep her relationship going with her 3 Alphas. It's a quick read and cute, so I recommend it for people who like light-hearted RH stories.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2025
D
Verified Purchase
Dani
Port Orchard, US
★★★★★ 3
real good
Format: Kindle
This was a solid read for the ABO universe. The characters are great. The smut scenes were well written. And the town is so cute I want to go there. It didn’t have much character development it just felt like I was getting to the characters as they were getting to know each other.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2025
T
Tstar
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
So sweet
Format: Kindle
It’s so unexpectedly sweet that it sneaks up on you. Each character is so unique and charming. I love the openness and honesty among their pack. It really blows me away how wonderful this omegaverse trope plays out. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2026
Q
Verified Purchase
Queen of Anxiety
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 2
Needs editing
Format: Kindle
Cute storyline and promising characters, but the lack of editing is painful to read. I would love to read an edited version.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2025

recommand products