A Body of Vision: Representations of the Body in Recent Film and Poetry

Introduction

vi A Body of Vision The staff of Wilfrid Laurier University Press have been consistently helpful. Carroll Klein, managingeditor of WLU Press, and freelance copy editor Barbara Tessman did a splendidjob of unravellingtangled sentences, of imposing consistency on a manuscript, and of catching the mistakes of one who is all too prone to error. Barbara Schon compiled the index. The director of the Press, Sandra Woolfrey, has overseen the project, read several drafts of the manuscript, and provided important counsel that salvaged the project. Anonymous reviewers for the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada offered useful advice in the final stages. The Federation also provided a grant in aid of publication. I owe a debt of inestimable magnitudeto my wife, KathrynElder. Her contributions to the actual production of the book, including obtaining the permissions , were enormous. But that remark tells hardly anything of what I owe her. For thirty years we have gone to films and poetry readings together, and our conversations afterwards have been, for all that time, the occasions in which I have begun to formulate my ideas on what we had seen and heard. As muchas I owe her for accompanying me in my discoveries and for encouraging me to keep on, that debt is a small fraction of what I owe to Kathryn for her own unquenchable appetite to see, hear, and discuss new work; and that debt, in its turn, is only a small fraction of what I owe to her for brightening every day of the past thirty years, with a radiance that only glows more brightly, and penetrates me more deeply, as time goes by. This book is dedicated to her, with much love. Acknowledgments The author and publisher wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright materials by other authors: Artforum for material from Artforum, November 1980, "Carolee Schneemann ," by Ted Castle. J.M. Dent, with New Directions Publishing Corporation, for the extract from Dylan Thomas, "The Force that through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower," from Dylan Thomas: The Poems, edited by Daniel Jones (1974), copyright 1939 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Film Culture for material from James Broughton, The Golden Positions, and from Jonas Mekas and P Adams Sitney, "James Broughton Interviewed by Jonas Mekas and P Adams Sitney," Film Culture 61 (James Broughton Special Issue 1975-1976). Grove Atlantic Monthly Press for an extract from Antonin Artaud, The Theatre and Its Double, translated by Mary Caroline Richards (Grove Atlantic Monthly Press, 1968). Scott MacDonald for material from his interview with Carolee Schneemann in his book A Critical Cinema (University of California Press, 1988) and for material from his interview with Andrew Noren in his book A Critical Cinema 2 (University of California Press, 1992). New Directions for the extract from Jorge Luis Borges "Paradise, XXXI, 108" from Jorge Luis Borges Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings, edited by Donald Yates and James Irby (New Directions Publishing Corporation , 1964). Reprinted by permission of New Directions. Andrew Noren for material from his 1978 program note for his appearance at The Collective for Living Cinema. Random House for extracts from Andrew Marvell "Bermudas" and "The Garden" from Andrew Marvell: Complete Poetry, Introduction by George deF. vn viii A Body of Vision Lord (Random House, 1968). Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. Eric Robinsonfor extracts from "ASundaywith Shepherds and Herdboys" from Selected Poems and Prose of John Clare, edited by Eric Robinson and Geoffrey Summerfield (Oxford University Press, 1967); for extracts from "Don Juan" and from "Eliza now the summer tells" from John Clare, edited by Eric Robinson and David Powell, Oxford Authors (Oxford University Press, 1984). Copyright Eric Robinson, reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Groups Ltd., London,England. Stranger Music for extracts from Leonard Cohen, "Master Song," "Joan of Arc," "Death of a Lady's Man," and "When Even The" from Leonard Cohen, Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs (McClelland and Stewart, 1993); for extracts from "The Old Revolution" and "Teachers" from Leonard Cohen, Songs of Leonard Cohen (Collier-Macmillan, 1969); for extracts from "You Have the Lovers" from Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968 (McClelland and Stewart, 1968); for extracts from "Welcome to These Lines" from Leonard Cohen, The Energy of Slaves (McClelland and Stewart, 1972); for extracts from "Psalm I" from Leonard Cohen, Book of Mercy (McClelland and Stewart, 1984); for extracts from "Death of a Lady's Man," "My Wife and I...