"Fairy Tale of Modernity" from 1920s-1940s Texts is Colloquium Topic

Date: 9/14/06
Contact: Marc Lebovitz

Picture books, illustrated textbooks and other popular art of the 1920s through 1940s portrayed how authors and artists of that time thought the future world would look.

Nathalie op de Beeck, assistant professor of English, who teaches courses on literature for children and adolescents, will speak on "Sentient Machines and Beasts of Burden: Modern Technologies in 1920s-40s Pictorial Texts" at 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, in room 133 of the Center for the Visual Arts. Her talk is part of the Colloquium on Visual Culture sponsored by the art history area of Illinois State University's School of Art.

Admission is free and open to the public.

op de Beeck's will share her research into "the fairy tale of modernity" as it was conveyed in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. Between World War I and World War II, texts on generous, self-propelled machines expresses modern excitement, anxiety and ideology to a wide range of readers.

op de Beeck's doctoral dissertation at the University of Pittsburgh was "Readymade Antiques: The Picture Book in America, 1924-1944." She received her Ph.D. with honors three years ago.