Resources for December 7, 2014

Merriam-Webster Word-of-the-Day

bouleversement \bool-vair-suh-MAHNG\

noun 1 : reversal; 2 : a violent disturbance : disorder

EXAMPLES

The darkening sky prompted a bouleversement of the captain's order to prepare to set sail.

"In fact, [Susan Sontag] had written two novels at the beginning of her career, in the sixties. She didn't like them much, so she became a critic, indeed, the most famous and influential young critic of the sixties and seventies, a central figure in the aesthetic bouleversement of that period.…" — Joan Acocella, The New Yorker, January 10, 2005

The English picked up bouleversement from French in the latter part of the 18th century (it ultimately traces to Middle French boule, meaning "ball," and verser, meaning "to overturn"), and while not very common, it has steadily remained in use since that time. F. Scott Fitzgerald, for one, used it in his 1920 novel This Side of Paradise: "For the second time in his life Amory had had a complete bouleversement and was hurrying into line with his generation." Both Fitzgerald's use and our first example sentence suggest the idea of turning something around, but as shown in our second example, some usage of bouleversement dispenses with this notion and instead implies a general kind of upheaval or dramatic change, as in a revolution.





Acklesberg, Martha, et al. "Anarchism and Sexuality." The London School of Economics and Political Science (December 4, 2014)

Klinger, Gabe. "Disquieting Objects: The radical austerity of António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro." Moving Image Source (May 3, 2011)

Connely, Matthew. "Open Government in the Age of Total War." The London School of Economics and Political Science (December 2, 2014)

Benton, Michael Dean. "Astroturf and Front Group Research: The Center for Union Facts." Dialogic Cinephilia (January 20, 2014)

Torture Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)

Hynes, Eric, et al. "New York, New York." Reverse Shot (June 15, 2011) ["Check out Reverse Shot's inaugural foray into video film criticism and the failure of video film criticism. We look at Taxi Driver, Hannah and Her Sisters, and their varying visions of New York."]





Lee, Kevin B. "Josephine Decker’s Flashes of Brilliance." Keyframe (November 20, 2014) ["Reading the memorable moments in Josephine Decker’s promising new films."]

Kitching, Sean. "Long Live The New Flesh: A Halloween Guide To Transgressive Horror." The Quietus (October 31, 2014)