Modernity Unbound: Ryerson's Inaugural Literatures of Modernity Symposium

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Modernity Unbound: Ryerson's Inaugural Literatures of Modernity Symposium, March 29, 2010

Toronto, March 2010 – What does it mean to be modern? Modernity conjures up urbanization, subjectivity, migration, new technologies and even global war--some of the most pressing issues of today. Does modernity constitute a breakage with the past that results from unprecedented migration patterns? Or does modernity constitute a revision of past cultural trends, or the rise of new forms of media and audience? These questions are at the heart of Modernity Unbound: Ryerson's Inaugural Literatures of Modernity Symposium, which brings together scholars, students, artists and writers who turn to literature, dance, film and art to advance our understanding of an all-encompassing concept.

The symposium includes 20 academic presentations and a round table selected from over 80 national and international submissions. Discussions include the avant-garde art of Marcel Duchamp and John Cage (conference participants may be surprised to learn that Duchamp and Cage played an experimental musical chess game at Ryerson University Theatre in 1968). The symposium also considers the influence of modern dance in the shaping of Canadian literature and reflects on the influence of science and the perception of time in gauging the experience of modernity. The focus on subjectivity is central, as seen in the example of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa who created over 70 identities for himself in his poetry, claiming that the modern poet is a "faker." The symposium considers the aesthetics, ethics, and ecology of modernity, as Samantha Bernstein, a doctoral student at York, does by arguing that as "the industrialized world moves into a post-industrial era, our taste for the picturesque is increasingly expressed in an appreciation for dilapidated urban areas and relics of urban industry."

In addition, ten creative artists engage viewers with modernity through dance, sculpture, video, and digital art. Toronto urban theorist Alex Marques, visual artist Simon Rabyniuk and dancers Alicia Grant and Cara Spooner take inspiration from New Cultural Geographers to present Body Cartography, a sculptural installation they describe as "an informed perspective on aging Modern architecture within an evolving urban fabric." Dance artist Erin McCurdy takes her cue from Dadaists Tristan Tzara and Hugo Ball to collapse the boundaries between self and other in an evocative dance video that subverts conventional spectatorship, while Alex Gurnham, one of the symposium organizers, engages viewers in a digital and musical installation that suggests that the rap battle of hip hop music can be used as a paradigm for the exploration of salient features of modernity, as this musical genre has forcefully evolved, as Gurnham asserts, into a "global, archival, internet-based community."

Scholar and student participants come from Ryerson, the University of Toronto, SUNY Buffalo, The Ontario College of Art and Design, York University, McGill University, University of Ottawa, Queen's, Western Ontario, University of Guelph, and others. Garry Leonard, a professor of English and Cinema at the University of Toronto, currently working on a book entitled Six Ways of Looking at Modernity, presents the keynote address using D. W. Griffith's silent movie Broken Blossoms (1919) and Sam Mendes's American Beauty (1999) as examples of "neurological modernity," where the emphasis is, as Leonard explains, "on hyper stimulus and jangled nerves." Meanwhile, Ed Slopek and Elaine Brodie, both from Ryerson University's School of Image Arts, screen Between Frames, a short video illuminating their thesis that "interactive media is ever ready to manipulate people and objects under the guise of empowerment."

Hosted by Ryerson's Literatures of Modernity Graduate Program, the symposium is organized by eleven graduate students in LM8912: Modernity as a Public Event under the mentorship of Dr. Irene Gammel, a professor of English who emphasizes the intensive learning experience: “The students are getting a rare experience in shaping an important public event, which is something to be proud of.”

"I think what I've learned about communicating and working together as a group has been most helpful," says Jillian Harkness, one of the graduate student organizers. Highlighting the peer-learning benefits, Harkness continues: "The experience of constantly getting and giving feedback is a lot more dynamic than regular class work, and has helped me to become more professional about my work."

For yet another student, the benefit lies in learning about modernity itself, as he sums it up: "Modernity is the blending of old and new. Modernity is also about how we learn to think innovatively and analyze the world around us.” He adds: "Modernity is a concept that is constantly changing, redefining itself."

Modernity Unbound takes place on the 7th floor of Heaslip House, 297 Victoria Street, Toronto, beginning on Monday, March 29, at 8:30 AM. Sessions run throughout the day with a closing reception at 7:30 PM. The symposium is free of charge, but on-site registration is required.

The event is supported by the Offices of the Ryerson University President, the Provost and the Vice Provost Student; the Literatures of Modernity Graduate Program and the Modern Literature and Culture Research Center.

About the Program: The Literatures of Modernity Program is an intensive, rigorous and diverse one-year program for students of English, Arts and Contemporary Studies, and related fields. Students receive advanced training in literary methodologies, research and scholarship, and hands-on involvement in literary fields by exploring topics such as the literary forms of modernity, or the relationship between the experience of modernity and literary narrative. The program is located in the English Department and the Faculty of Arts.


For more information, please contact:

Derek Fisher (d4fisher@ryerson.ca, 416-301-1492)
E-mail: modernity@english.ryerson.ca / Tel: 416-979-5000 ext. 7668
http://lomsymposium.blog.ryerson.ca/ and http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/literatures/