Looking at the Master Narrative: A Possible Interpretation Strategy

Miloš Bralović

doi:10.25038/am.v0i16.249

Authors

Miloš Bralović

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i16.249

Keywords:

Modernism, narrative, fine arts, 20th century, Virginia Woolf, Arnold Schönberg, Vasily Kandinsky

Abstract

While re-thinking (or, from the perspective of our time, looking at) Modernism, and the concept of modernity, one must have in mind all the contradictions implied by the term. To paraphrase Susan Stanford Friedman, Modernism is (or was) both the culture of rebellion and ‘high’, elitist culture, both negation of tradition and a so-called master narrative. Modernism means different things to different people, but the problem is that, as Stanford Friedman points out, its definitions are not just different, but stand as opposites. Bearing that in mind, the main point of this paper is to try to define/explain/understand what the mentioned master narrative (in the Modernist practices of fine arts) is and how it was created. Is our re-thinking, or looking from a temporal distance, just a mere observation, or, is it inevitable to notice all the different narratives connected to different practices similarily to Jacques Derrida’s différence? In other words, were there that many narratives, would there even be a master one?

Article received: March 24, 2018; Article accepted: April 10, 2018; Published online: September 15, 2018; Scholarly analysis or debate

How to cite this article: Bralović, Miloš. "Looking at the Master Narrative: A Possible Interpretation Strategy." AM Journal of Art and Media Studies 16 (2018): 1−10. doi: 10.25038/am.v0i16.249

Author Biography

Miloš Bralović

Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade
Serbia

Miloš Bralović’s work concerns itself with Yugoslav/Serbian pre and post Second World War music and, more broadly, problems in defining moderated modernisms in 20th century European art. He is currently working on his PhD at the Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade, where he also completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in musicology. He was born in 1991.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i16.249 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i16.249