Dr. Leticia Alonso, Humanities Teacher Award winner for Jackson State University, will present her public lecture:
At the heart of Modernism was the attraction to cinema celebrity culture. The popularization of film stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford and Brigitte Helm shaped the cultural imaginary of modernity to such an extent that they influenced the creative activity of writers in the years 1900-1950. This presentation will explore how Modernist poetry challenges traditional categorizations of high and low art forms by drawing on cinema as a genre initially associated with mass culture. Questions centering on stardom and ways of seeing will thus reflect on the intersections of poetry with popular culture, publicity and performance.
