THE MICHIGAN UAll.V IVI]OTTA A IV ^t**VIIMWIW am #AA* -- .'.... -v- a+.sa ut u-* - .- F ti~IiAx, . OC.JUDE i Et 27, 1967 :: MODERN LETTERS' GATHERING: Novels, War Dominate Conference - I a Across Campus By MERRILL GILFILLAN Special To The Daily IOWA CITY-The Second Bien- al Conference for Modern Let- rs-sponsored by the University Iowa Department of English d Center for Modern Letters, ok place here Oct. 19-21. The designated theme of. the thering was- "The New Gro- sque, or, Is There a Post-Real- :ic Fiction?" Almost in spite of- e topic, the various speakers esented their 'views on diverse oblems, and made no attempt to un up." One member of the audience de- ribed the residue as "schizo- iLenic;" that is, there emerged unrelenting dualism from most the .participants: the domain literature, especially the novel, d the' concern for the Vietnam ar comprising the elements. Warner Berthoff, professor of literature at Harvard, sought to define "the trouble" in which the novel as "genre" finds itself to- day. . A central problem for the form, according to Berthoff, is the lack of confidence in the nar- rative approach, in the passage of time. This mistrust engenders an apocalyptic attitude in the novel- ist, likening him, and his art, to certain religious revival efforts of the last century in America. News Movies Along with this artistic distrust, Berthoff finds that the American reading public outside of the uni- versity prefers, perhaps justifiab- ly, the reportage of other media for narrative news. He gave as examples the cinema and auto- biography. The novel since World War I has become a means for "copping out," and thus has been theatre i 'Mime Troupe Opens With Italian Satire The San Francisco Mime Troupe, resh from its seventh season of resenting free commedia dell'arte 'erformances in the parks of the ay Area and throughout North. rn California, and as part of heir first international tour, will ring its current production I,'Amant Militaire" to Detroit this aturday night at the Detroit In- titute of ..rts, "I'Amant Militaire," translated rom Goldoni's Italian play by 3etty .Schwimmer and adapted or commedia presentation by oan Holden, deals with the diffi- ulties to both visited and visitors hen a. large, powerful country evades and occupies a smaller ation in the thtroes of civil war.: 'he 'Mime Troupe has'attempted o follow both the practice and the pirit of the roving Renaissance layers of sixteenth century Ital- ,n commedia, choosing contem- orary targets for satiric refer- ace, retaining the contemporary me of the Italian popular medy, There are the stock commedia aaracters - the grasping mer-, hant, Pantalone; lovely daugh- r; shrewd servant, Brighelle; old lover; plus General Garcia f the invading army, a revolting; nincing amalgam of every mili- try madman and our own beloved president." Eight actors sing and dance, play recorders, bang cym- bals and tambourines, improvise and generally recreate the chaotic commedia atmosphere, slaughter- ing several sacred cows in the process. R. G. Davis, director of the troupe, says of "L'Amant Mili- taire": "The show is meant to disturb as well as to entertain, It disturbs us as performers, and' I am willing to expose myself to the. same thing we. exposed the audience to. We are not interested in listless audiences that go to the theatre only to verify their own prejudices. It is the conception of puritan culture that art should endorse its morality and flatter its patriotism. "We take a. risk," Davis con-. tinues, "in, putting these shows to- gether, and we ask that the aud- ience also take risks. We want to deal with hypocrisy in America. I try to deal with it onstage for all. I can't say 'this is the conclusion' to the audience. I have to let them decide collectively and individual- ly. Hopefully their conclusions will be the same as ours. If not, then. it's didactic theatre and I might as well have written an essay. We cannot agree that it is disloyal to tell what is happening all around us as we see it. The Vietnam war is obscene." subservient to the forces it sought to attack. A new threat of intellect is needed, Berthoff said, before our age can produce novels of im- portant size. R. G. Davis, director of the San Francisco Mime Troupe which performed each evening, advocat- ed a more direct concern among artists for "the community," the larger social and political forces in America. The novel must be written, he said, with more than the artist's relief as goal, or else not be written at all. Speaking with Davis was poet and novelist Robert Creeley, who described the act of writing as "the creation of a place to be," a gesture toward possibility, and proposed that today's writer must demand that "place" wherein words become acts. Ulysses Literature Richard Poirer, professor of Rutgers and an editor of the Parti- san Review, shared the stage next with Paul Krassner, editor of "The Realist." Poirer's subject was "The Literature of Self-Parody;" as seen in "Ulysses." This literature is characterized by art's exposure of its own limits at the same time it continues to develop them. This trend, Poirer said, has manifested itself inover-writing, self-contained and boring novels, in which everyone waits for the deflation of everything. Paul Krassner presented "Eu- logy for Lenny Bruce," a delight- fully entertaining spoof on court- rooms and censorship dedicated to a man who knew them both so TONIGHT THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD dir. Howard Hawkes, 1951 Tomorrow- CURSE OF THE (AT PEOPLE 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 ARCHITECTURE AUDITORIUM STILL ONLY 50c- well, with references to every- thing from Eleanor Roosevelt's bosom to our President's life in bed. The conference concluded with Carl Oglesby discussing "The Con- temporary Defeat of Fiction." Og- lesby's contention was that every individual is inevitably a political and historical agent. He cited Camus as representative of the modern artist-man's failure, that being his relegation of history to a lower morallevel than art. This tendency in the artist is con- comitant with the refusal among readers to "read historically" and demand an "existential" truth. Meeting's Conclusions Each of the conference speakers acknowledged, in various degrees, the final absurdity of such a meet- ing, based as it was on a theme chosen far in advance. Even the conference chairman admitted the prominence of cocktail parties in his memories of the last confer- ence. The ideas which emerged were similar in their tone of concern, and in their appeal to the indi- viduals present to engage in their own "thing" whether it be read- ing, writing or revolting, pulling, no doubt, for the novelists some- where. Phone 434-0130 OPEN 6:30 P.M. FREE HEATERS "FRANK AND OUTSPOKEN!" -Redbook Magazine The B01TING BROTHE!M'Producto, te fam - PLUS. TECHNICOLORe FROM WARNER BROS.U with ROD TAYLOR Four addresses will be deliveredl at the University next week dur- ing the ninth annual Seminar on{ Canadian-American Relations. 1 Thursday, Nov. 2, the Hon. Paul1 Martin, Canadian minister for ex-1 ternal affairs, will deliver an ad-1 dress at 7 p.m. in the Michigan; Union Ballroom. Thursday's ses- sion will open at 10:30 a.m. in the University Assembly room with az talk by Dr. James Eayrs of the University of Toronto and H. Van: Cleveland of the New York City1 First National Bank. A keynotej address will be given Monday, Oct. 30, in Windsor, Ontario, by Dr. Harry Johnson of the London School of Economics. Former Uni- versity Prof. Kenneth Boulding will address the seminar on Nov. 1 in Windsor.r News coverage of the Detroit riots will be emphasized during a two-day conference in Detroit in which journalists, educators, and public officials will discuss "Fu- tures in the Fourth Estate." Included among the speakers will be Douglass Cater, special assistant to President Johnson; Justice Theodore Souris of the DIAL 8-6416 Sheldon Levy of the University's Center for Research on Conflict Resolution. Conferences will be held Friday, Nov. 10, at the Rack- ham Education Memorial, and Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Pick- Fort Shelby Hotel. * * * "Fresh Approaches to the Con- cept of a Person" will be the sub- ject of a University Sesquicenten- nial conference here Nov. 2-5. Noted authorities from the Uni- versities of Paris, London, Harvard and Cornell will speak on ap- proaches to the study of the mind. All sessions will be held in the UGLI's multipurpose room. A panel discussion involving all par- ticipants will be held Sunday morning at 10:30. V t LI fl U iiLU - MADN RW"1 wl IN 70mm.."PANAVISION'.METROCOLOR MGM RESERVED SEAT TICKETS NOW AT BOX-OFFICE OR BY MAIL Box Office Open Daily Noon to 9 Evenings at 8 p.m. - Sundays at Tickets at all Sears Stores, 7:30 p.m. - Matinees Wed, Auto Club Branches, Sat. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m. J. L. Hudson's Major Stores Free Parking - WO. 14788 FOR THEATRE PARTY INFORMATiON CALL W. PRAUGHT - 963-3535 4th WEEK! SHOWS AT 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9:07 Dial 5-6290 Michigan Supreme Court, and METRO. GOLDW Y*l MAYER PRESENTS A JOSEPH JANNI PRODUCTION JULIE CHRISTIE "A MOVIE THAT REMINDS YOU OF WHAT REALLY WARM GOOD MOVIES ARE LIKE. IT'S BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!" -Judith Crist, NBC TV A colorful, kicky movie in the mod mood!" -Good Housekeeping Magazine "PICTURE OF THE MONTH!" -Seventeen Magazine "Sidney Poitier just perfect ... this film will enthrall you!" -Cosmopolitan Magazine NOW SHOWING RENCE STAMP PETERFNCH ALANBATES 14 r.".V)k n vir 'us a TV I CINsmAScoPE 0 Cola by TECHNICOLOR -COMING-2 DAYS ONLY- "MADAM BUTTERFLY" COLUMBIA PICTURES Presents SIDNEY POITIER " nJAMES CLAVELL'S PRODUCTION OF JUDY GEESON CHRISTIAN ROBERTS - SUZY KENDAtL THE "MINBENDERS T ECHN*ICOLOR I' Lose Something? Find it with a AMERICAN PREMIERE "Eminently succeeds. A good court- room drama that bombards the view- er. This dramatic materializatin of witnesses before the eye and ear has much more immediacy and impact thon the printed word. Vivid. and forcefully presented." Bosley Crowther-NEW YORK TIMES "Here it is, the people who actually saw something and believed that the truth never did fully reveal itself. The people are real, the incidents are there on the record. Very compelling, a good strong job. It will tend to de- stroy your peace of mind." Archer Winsten-NEW YORK POST "The camera never lies, it is hard not to believe these eye-witness accounts. It is one thing to read written testi- mony but quite something else to observe witnesses' facial reactions to questions and hear testimony from their own lips. The film should win new sceptics of the Warren Comms- sion over to Lane's side." Kathleen Carroll-NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 11 Daily Classified NATIONAL OENERAL CORPORATION - DIRECT FROM ITS ROADSHOW ENGAGEMENT! Y SPECIAL POPULAR PRICES - SPECIAL SCHEDULED PERFORMANCES CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCES . NO SEATS RESERVED Every Ticket Holder Guaranteed A Seat .: :;..' ',+.{" r rKcM' $ ,:y{;: ;+"' :K Yr i:.y.wr.": ::t" "">:"!<" w..smt. .Y..:li n -4 6th and FINAL WEEK FOX FASTERN THeATReS I FOH VILLAGE 375 No. MAPLE RD.-769-1300 Feature Times Monday - Friday 8:30 p.m. only Saturday - Sunday 2 - 5:10 - 8:30 p.m. James Mchener's novel reaches the screen I ,, <. :.:>b:.:.., : :: ,,: . , i4. t.' { : : .;..,t.:; .t. :tiY' v '" ': :1 R: '.:C . I THE MIRISCH CORPORATION PRESENTS JULIE ANDREWS MAX VON SYDOW RICHARD HARRIS In THE GEORGE ROY HILL-WALTER MIRISCH PRODUCTION of "HAWAII" ACRES OF FREE-FREE PARKING I ' SHOW TIMES: Friday-7, 9, 11 CINEMA II presents ANTHONY QUINN GUILIETTA MASINA 4 in FEDERICO FELLINI'S LA STRADA CZLJ DTr . /. cZ El A1 C LJ 1 A D rnkI ROAER IG E00819W131 ON OUN- J If STEVE -MCQUEEN ICHADATTENBOROUOH RICHARD CRENCONHA D ICEBERGEN IYANAYAT AN DRIAN F JiROFRT WISF IRORRT ANDFRSON . RIARD McKFNNA. RlPIF~~J V Cl lU I n U .: .." me'.es m - - . ..u.eameamnamesammsa .