Derek Jarman, Chroma: A Book of Colour, June 93

John Mepham (Kingston University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1994

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Autobiography (any)
Essays/ Lectures (any)
Cinema/ Film/ TV
- Screenplay

Resources

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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).

This volume was published posthumously in 1994. It is a meditation on colour, written as Jarman's sight was deteriorating late in his life. It is a fascinating, quirky compilation, made up of quotations from many, many sources, from Aristotle and Alberti to Wittgenstein and Ezra Pound. It also includes reminiscences, dreams and reflections. The whole is organised into a series of chapters,

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339 words

Citation: Mepham, John. "Chroma: A Book of Colour, June 93". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6023, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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