Preface; I. Theorising the Avant-Garde; II. Reviewing the Autonomy of Art; III. On the Alchemy of the Word; IV. Body Arts; V. The Vanguard in Cinema and Architecture; VI. Crossing the Genres; List of Illustrations; Index.
Summary
This collection of critical essays explores new approaches to the study of avant-garde literature and art, film and architecture. It offers a theoretical framework that avoids narrowly defined notions of the avant-garde. It takes into account the diversity of artistic aims and directions of the various avant-garde movements and encourages a wide and open exploration of the multifaceted and often contradictory nature of the great variety of avant-gardist innovations. Individual essays concentrate on cubist collage and dadaist photomontage, on abstract painting by members of the Dutch group De S.
