Skip to content

Category Archives: Literature

Reconstructivist Art: American Born Chinese

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese as an example of Reconstructivist Art. American Born Chinese centers around what at first seem like three very different narratives.  The first is a superhero-themed retelling of a beloved classic tale from Chinese mythology, the story of the kung-fu practicing Monkey King.  The second is a realistic, [...]

Also filed in Comics and Graphic Novels, Identity, Popular Culture, Reconstructivist Art | | Comments (1)

Reconstructivist Art: The Princess Bride

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

William Goldman’s “Princess Bride” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Popular screenwriter and novelist William Goldman produced two beloved versions of his modern “classic,” which was one of the first true reconstructivist artworks. Nod to Artifice: Goldman appears frequently in the original novel, putatively as its “abridger.” In the movie, Goldman’s presence is replaced by [...]

Also filed in Reconstructivist Art | | Comments (0)

Reconstructivist Art: The Neverending Story

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Michael Ende’s “The Neverending Story” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Michael Ende’s international bestseller found an audience among children and adults alike, and should not be confused with the more juvenile movie adaptation. While the movie faithfully reproduced the conventional fairy tale that takes up the first half of the book, it ignored the [...]

Also filed in Reconstructivist Art | | Comments (0)

Kierkegaard’s Narrative

Monday, December 20, 2004

"Kierkegaard's Narrative" is an existential humanist plot outline named after the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. In general, it runs as follows: An aimless young man drifts through life, obsessed with aesthetics, and seeking sexual fulfillment with a series of women, yet never making substantive choices or real commitments. The climax of the story is the protagonist's decision to commit to a single woman, and to enter into marriage.

The raw source material for this plotline is found in Kierkegaard's books "Either/Or," "Fear and Trembling," and "Repetition," in which he takes on the persona of various first-person narrators, and describes their experiences.

Also filed in Existentialism, Humanism, Movies, Philosophy, Popular Culture | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

Reconstructivist Art

Friday, December 10, 2004

to reawaken a sense of the Real in a world where everything has been demonstrated to be an illusion

Also filed in Art, Movies, Music, Philosophy, Popular Culture, Reconstructivist Art | | Comments (11)