Introduction to Maya Deren
Maya Deren is one of the prominent figures in American experimental filmmaking, who is celebrated as a ‘legend’ and the “Mother of Avant-Garde” (Hornung 2005, p. 280; Pramaggiore 1997, p. 17).
Maya Deren was born Eleanora Derenkowsky into a family of prominent educated Russian Jews in 1917, in Kiev, during the birth of the Revolution (Doneson n.d., p. 327; Fabe 1996, p. 146; McPherson 2005, p. 8). She was the only child of Solomon David Derenkowsky, a psychiatrist and Marie Fiedler (Doneson n.d., p. 327). In 1922, her family migrated to Syracuse, New York.
After elementary school, Deren spent three years in Geneva, Switzerland at the League Nations’ International School, where she pursued her desire in writing …show more content…
A woman’s shadow approaches the flower and picks it up. She catches a glimpse of a hooded figure making a bend at the road. She then, walks up the stairs to a house, knocks and tries to open the door but it is locked. She takes a key from her purse but it falls down the stairs. She retrieves the key and opens the door. From her point of view, we survey the room that is disarray with newspapers spread on the floor, a knife that slips off a loaf of bread, phone receiver off the hook at the bottom of the staircase. The woman makes her way up the stairs to the bedroom and discovers a phonography plays unattended. She descends the staircase and relaxes on a large chair that is facing out the window to the walkway. She places the flower on her lap, caresses herself and falls …show more content…
Keller, S 2013, Frustrated Climaxes: On Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon, Cinema Journal, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 75-98, retrieved 28 July 2014,
<http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/journals/cinema_ journal/v052 /52.3.keller.pdf>.
Pramaggiore, M 1997, Performance and Persona in the U.S. Avant-Garde: The Case of Maya Deren, Cinema Journal, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 19-40, retrieved 28 July 2014, < http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer /pdfviewer?sid=853b2f67-645b-4704-b87d-8a96e3d77101%40sessionmgr 4001&vid=8&hid=4208>.
Pruitt, J 2002, Stan Bakhage and the Long Reach of Maya Deren’s Poetics of Film, Chicago Review, vol. 47/48, vol. 47, no. 4 – vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 116-132, retrieved 28 July 2014,
<http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25304810?uid=3737536&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104042656891>.
Turim, M 2007, Avant-Garde Critical Studies, Volume 23: Avant-Garde Film, Editions Rodoppi, retrieved 28 July 2014,
Maya Deren is one of the prominent figures in American experimental filmmaking, who is celebrated as a ‘legend’ and the “Mother of Avant-Garde” (Hornung 2005, p. 280; Pramaggiore 1997, p. 17).
Maya Deren was born Eleanora Derenkowsky into a family of prominent educated Russian Jews in 1917, in Kiev, during the birth of the Revolution (Doneson n.d., p. 327; Fabe 1996, p. 146; McPherson 2005, p. 8). She was the only child of Solomon David Derenkowsky, a psychiatrist and Marie Fiedler (Doneson n.d., p. 327). In 1922, her family migrated to Syracuse, New York.
After elementary school, Deren spent three years in Geneva, Switzerland at the League Nations’ International School, where she pursued her desire in writing …show more content…
A woman’s shadow approaches the flower and picks it up. She catches a glimpse of a hooded figure making a bend at the road. She then, walks up the stairs to a house, knocks and tries to open the door but it is locked. She takes a key from her purse but it falls down the stairs. She retrieves the key and opens the door. From her point of view, we survey the room that is disarray with newspapers spread on the floor, a knife that slips off a loaf of bread, phone receiver off the hook at the bottom of the staircase. The woman makes her way up the stairs to the bedroom and discovers a phonography plays unattended. She descends the staircase and relaxes on a large chair that is facing out the window to the walkway. She places the flower on her lap, caresses herself and falls …show more content…
Keller, S 2013, Frustrated Climaxes: On Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon, Cinema Journal, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 75-98, retrieved 28 July 2014,
<http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/journals/cinema_ journal/v052 /52.3.keller.pdf>.
Pramaggiore, M 1997, Performance and Persona in the U.S. Avant-Garde: The Case of Maya Deren, Cinema Journal, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 19-40, retrieved 28 July 2014, < http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer /pdfviewer?sid=853b2f67-645b-4704-b87d-8a96e3d77101%40sessionmgr 4001&vid=8&hid=4208>.
Pruitt, J 2002, Stan Bakhage and the Long Reach of Maya Deren’s Poetics of Film, Chicago Review, vol. 47/48, vol. 47, no. 4 – vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 116-132, retrieved 28 July 2014,
<http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25304810?uid=3737536&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104042656891>.
Turim, M 2007, Avant-Garde Critical Studies, Volume 23: Avant-Garde Film, Editions Rodoppi, retrieved 28 July 2014,