Discussion Questions (week 5)

This week's discussion questions are:

• How does textual appropriation (found text) inform your reading of War, the musical? What are your ideas on appropriation in general? How is Fitterman's use of appropriation the same as and different from visual collage? How does Fitterman's use of appropriation relate to the following concepts: war, music (entertainment), commercialism, class, art.
• List all possible definitions for the word "order" (we mentioned several in class - chronological, military, social, legal, consumerist, etc.). Are there other definitions or connotations not listed in the dictionary? How does the book relate to, reflect, or utilize these differing ideas of "order"? Where do we find explicit uses or references to "order" in the text?
• Discuss the concepts of composition and arrangement and how those might inform our reading of the text. Do those terms also have multiple definitions? What is the book composing/arranging? what is it composed/arranged of? Is Fitterman a writer? a composer? an artist? a scam-artist? a historian? How might you define or classify what he is doing?
  
• Reflect on the nature of collaboration. What does it entail? imply? What significance does Fitterman's and Rowntree's dual participation in the production of War, the musical play on your initial reading of the text? How does collaboration inform, contradict, question, or confuse the construction of meaning in the text?

Some bonus features:

• Robert Fitterman reading some of his newer work (part of his Metropolis project) earlier this Spring.
• Some visual/textual work by Dirk Rowntree on Ubu Web