The Films of Stan Brakhage in the American Tradition of Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and Charles Olson

Since the late 1950s Stan Brakhage has been in the forefront of independent filmmaking. His body of work-some seventy hours-is one of the largest of any filmmaker in the history of cinema, and one of the most diverse. Probably the most widely quoted experimental filmmaker in history, his films typify the independent cinema.

Until now, despite well-deserved acclaim, there has been no comprehensive study of Brakhage's oeuvre. The Films of Stan Brakhage in the American Tradition fills this void. R. Bruce Elder delineates the aesthetic parallels between Brakhage's films and a broad spectrum of American art from the 1920s through the 1960s. Elder demonstrates the symmetry between Brakhage's films and the writings of William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Allen Ginsberg and Michael McClure. Concentrating especially on Brakhage's relation to the work and the ideas of Charles Olson, he shows how thoroughly, through Olson, Brakhage has assimilated the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead.

This book is certain to stir the passions of those interested in artistic critique and interpretation in its broadest terms.