The first introduction of the seminal writings of a key Belgian writer and critic to an English-speaking audience.
Radically subjective. Radically unapologetic. Radically demanding. These are the hallmarks of Dirk Lauwaerts skill, attitude, and sensitivity, which are the result of radical attention.
Belgian writer and critic Dirk Lauwaert (19442013) wrote about images, be they moving or still, historical or contemporary, overfamiliar or unseen. He experienced them intensely, studied them attentively, and connected them to ethical, philosophical, or social issues in texts that invited readers to do the same, whether they were leaving the movie theater, browsing a photo book, or visiting an exhibition.
This selection presents the depth and scope of Lauwaerts immense output through 15 key texts in which the Belgian author unfolds his central ideas and motifs, displaying his kaleidoscopic thinking and essayistic ability. The texts span 25 years from 1983 to 2008 and were originally published in various contexts over the course of three decades.
Note
Acknowledgements
A Culture of Showing. Firm Elegance in the Writing of Dirk Lauwaert by
Herman Asselberghs
Notes
I
Contemporary Sophistry and the Poor Experience
Reports from a Classroom
Critique of Enthusiasm. Culture, or the Event; The Accompanying Word:
Passion
II
Barthes, the Perfect Bourgeois
Portrait of a Role: the Intellectual
The Sovereign Dandy
The Rhythm of Thinking
III
Mise-en-Scčne: The Most Beautiful Word about Film
The Classic Film Body
Seam and Pattern: Thinking Forms
Dreaming of an Expedition
IV
Public/Publication/Publishing/Publicity
The Blurred Photograph: An Old Debate
The Image That Yields Up Everything (Because It Has Seen Nothing)
V
Moving House
Notes
Herman Asselberghs is a filmmaker, teacher, and researcher at LUCA School of Arts. Robbrecht Desmet is a filmmaker, teacher, and researcher at LUCA School of Arts. Bart Meuleman is a writer, poet, playwright, dramaturgist, and essayist. Peter Jan Perquy is head librarian at the Library of Sint-Lukas in Brussels (LUCA School of Arts) and caretaker of its Dirk Lauwaert Collection.
