You will write if you will write without thinking of the result in terms of a result, but think of the writing in terms of discovery, which is to say that creation must take place between the pen and the paper, not before in a thought or afterwards in a recasting... It will come if it is there and if you will let it come. (Gertrude Stein)
Gertrude Stein has been an extraordinary person in many respects: it is not only her biographical background that is impressing and which shows what a strong and self-confident woman she was, such as her foundation of the American Fund for French Wounded during the First World War. Also by her work Tender Buttons, written in 1914, she has successfully created an entirely new kind of literature. Yet her playful, but at the same time not immediately understandable way of writing is considered as hermetic, being pretty difficult to read. This is why Sprigge writes that “[b]oth as artist and as woman Gertrude Stein has always been a subject of controversy. Ridiculed on the one hand she is acclaimed on the other as the creator of a literary style that has set its mark in twentiethcentury prose and poetry...” (xiii).
This style has largely been influenced by cubist painting and her friendship with Pablo Picasso. Tender Buttons is thus of course an homage to him, and there are many similarities between cubism and Stein's writing. However, it is the aim of this essay to point out both in what way the art movement contributed to her work, and how she is at the same time able to overcome this male tradition by stepping away and changing it.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Cubism
- Reality Perception
- Rejection of Common-Sense Reality
- Gertrude Stein
- Similarities between Cubism and Stein's Writing
- FOOD Section of Tender Buttons
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This essay explores the influence of Cubism on Gertrude Stein's writing style, specifically in her work "Tender Buttons." The essay aims to examine the shared artistic intentions, techniques, and reception of both movements. It investigates how Stein, while drawing inspiration from Cubist principles, ultimately transcends them to establish a unique literary tradition.
- The influence of Cubism on Gertrude Stein's writing style
- The relationship between visual art and literature in the early 20th century
- The use of repetition, fragmentation, and spatial representation in Stein's work
- The rejection of traditional narrative structures and conventions in both Cubism and Stein's writing
- The reception of both Cubism and Stein's work, particularly the challenges they posed to traditional artistic norms
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The essay begins by introducing the context of Cubism, outlining its key features and historical significance. It explores the concept of reality perception as a central tenet of Cubism, analyzing how artists like Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp sought to represent multiple perspectives and the passage of time within a single artwork. The chapter also examines the cubist rejection of conventional artistic conventions and its implications for the perception of reality.
The second chapter shifts its focus to Gertrude Stein's work, "Tender Buttons," and examines its relationship to Cubism. The essay highlights the similarities between Stein's writing and Cubist painting, particularly in their unconventional forms and challenging reception. It analyzes the use of repetition and fragmentation in Stein's writing as a means of incorporating space and disrupting traditional narrative structures.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The key terms and concepts explored in this essay include Cubism, Gertrude Stein, "Tender Buttons," reality perception, fragmentation, repetition, spatial representation, rejection of conventions, modernism, and the relationship between visual art and literature.
- Quote paper
- Manü Mohr (Author), 2011, Gertrude Stein and cubist poetry - Her response to a male tradition, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/231879
