Evolutionary Aestheticism in Victorian Culture

"Although the hard-nosed scientist and the dandy aesthete seem unlikely allies at first glance, Lindsay Wilhelm argues that Victorian evolutionism and the Aesthetic (or "art for art's sake") Movement converged on surprisingly utopian ideas about beauty, pleasure, and the power of good taste to shape our society for the better"--

List of contents

1. On the origin of evolutionary aesthetics; 2. Evolution, secular reverence, and the rise of aestheticism; 3. The Utopian (r)evolutionism of Grant Allen and Oscar Wilde; 4. Art for the sake of life: 'life-enhancing' aesthetics in the Fin de Siècle; 5. Taste and cultural progress in Bloomsbury and beyond; Coda: the critic as prophet.

About the author

Lindsay Wilhelm is an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University. Her major research and teaching interests include aestheticism and decadence, literature and science, and the Victorian Pacific. She has published articles on these and related topics in Victorian Studies, Nineteenth-Century Literature, the LA Review of Books, and other venues.

Summary

Although the hard-nosed scientist and the dandy aesthete seem unlikely allies at first glance, Lindsay Wilhelm argues that Victorian evolutionism and the Aesthetic (or “art for art's sake”) Movement converged on surprisingly utopian ideas about beauty, pleasure, and the power of good taste to shape our society for the better.

Foreword

A revealing enquiry into how Victorian evolutionists and aesthetes converged over utopian ideas about beauty, pleasure, and social progress.

Product details

• Authors: Lindsay Wilhelm, Lindsay (Oklahoma State University) Wilhelm
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.10.2024
• EAN: 9781009469357
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0946935-7
• No. of pages: 272
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; English, History of art & design styles: c 1800 to c 1900, c 1800 to c 1900, History of Art, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Philosophy: aesthetics, Impact of science & technology on society, Impact of science and technology on society, 1837–1901 (Victorian period)