Hearing latest on late style

Edward Said, the famed academic best known for coining the term "orientalism," came to Penn Thursday night to deliver the opening address of the second annual conference of the Modernist Studies Association. Said is one of the most prominent public intellectuals today. He is an English and Comparative Literature professor at Columbia University and the author of numerous books, including the path-breaking Orientalism. His talk drew so many people to Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge that some of the several hundred students and professors in attendance were forced to either stand or sit on the floor. Said's lecture, "Reflections on Late Style," was based on research work he has been doing for several years. In his lecture, Said focused predominantly on works of art that rebel against the conventional belief that late works -- defined as works of literature, music or art created right before the artist's death -- must exude more "maturity and serenity" than earlier works. Said utilized examples from both literature and music that indicated that late works can often convey a sense of "exilic isolation" and frenzy, instead of maturity and serenity. "Does one grow wiser with age?" Said asked rhetorically. However, some works demonstrate that artists do not necessarily grow wiser with age. Art created right before death may in fact indicate "permanent, unresolved tension with the real world." Theodor Adorno, an author who studied Beethoven's work extensively, used the phrase "late style" in his work on the great composer. Adorno describes Beethoven's late work: "His late work still remains process but not development." Said agreed, saying that Beethoven's final work often appears unfinished and is "wayward and eccentric." Said also used the example of the Sicilian prince and author Guiseppe Lampedusa, who grew disgusted with decadence later in life. Lampedusa wrote a novel, The Leopard, about a prince who grows old and becomes quite pessimistic. There are hints of death and decay "on every page," and the book contains a certain "pessimism of intelligence and will." The prince ultimately realizes that nothing can affect the paralysis of himself, his family or his society. Lampedusa conveys the idea that once he has achieved old age, he does not want the serenity or maturity that supposedly comes with old age. Although Said was very well received overall, some audience members were surprised -- and even somewhat dismayed -- that Said, who spent much of his childhood in the Middle East, made no mention of the current conflict there. "The striking thing was that the current difficulties in the Middle East were not alluded to by anyone," said Leon Surette, a professor at the University of Western Ontario. At the same time, the packed lounge and sustained applause that resulted from Said's appearance pointed to Said's immense popularity. Thursday's address also functioned as a lecture in the Penn Humanities Forum's continuing program on style.