Derek Jarman, Modern Nature

John Mepham (Kingston University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1991

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Autobiography (any)
Non-Fiction
- Journal/ Diary

Resources

Derek Jarman wrote a series of autobiographical texts, scripts and journals, in which he again and again revisited his past and continually reinvented the forms of self-writing. The sequence includes Dancing Ledge (1984), The Last of England (1987) (republished as Kicking the Pricks (1996)), Modern Nature (1991), At Your Own Risk (1992), Smiling in Slow Motion (2000), Blue (1993), and Chroma (1994).

In Modern Nature Jarman's self-writing takes a very sharp new turn. Instead of the dispersal and unsettled collage effect of his earlier efforts, Modern Nature seems very settled, steady and focussed. It is a work of relocation and reinvention. In the years just a…

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1300 words

Citation: Mepham, John. "Modern Nature". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3580, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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