Everything Is a Remix

Catalog description

Is anything original? Before "remixes" had that name, they went by many others, including "tradition and the individual talent," parody, pastiche, burlesque, adaptation, dialogism, collage, detournement, refunctioning, intertextuality, intermediality, transtextuality, and the carnivalesque. Asking what happens when we make something new from something old, this course explores artistic and interpretative remix practices that are both very ancient and extremely contemporary. While "remix" is a recent term that evokes studio production and Internet culture, understanding its roots obliges us to go back to long-standing traditions in arts and culture generally. Although the course focuses to some extent on film adaptations of literary works, it should be of interest to students curious about music, film, and artistic adaptation in general, but also with our mass-mediated social environment that thrives on sampling, mash-ups, memes, and adaptation.