Evolution and Victorian Culture: 92 (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture, Series Number 92) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1316646785 ISBN 13: 9781316646786

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2017

Synopsis

In this collection of essays from leading scholars, the dynamic interplay between evolution and Victorian culture is explored for the first time, mapping new relationships between the arts and sciences. Rather than focusing simply on evolution and literature or art, this volume brings together essays exploring the impact of evolutionary ideas on a wide range of cultural activities including painting, sculpture, dance, music, fiction, poetry, cinema, architecture, theatre, photography, museums, exhibitions and popular culture. Broad-ranging, rather than narrowly specialized, each chapter provides a brief introduction to key scholarship, a central section exploring original insights drawn from primary source material, and a conclusion offering overarching principles and a projection towards further areas of research. Each chapter covers the work of significant individuals and groups applying evolutionary theory to their particular art, both as theorists and practitioners. This comprehensive examination of topics sheds light on larger and previously unknown Victorian cultural patterns.

About this title

Review:

'[The editors] rearticulate one of our most persistent discussions in a provocative new light ... [this book] will be useful on the shelf of anybody who cares about the complex fabric of evolution and the ways in which we attempt to understand it.' Will Tattersdill, The British Society for Literature and Science (bsls.ac.uk)

'What this volume does so well is to demonstrate the real range and complexity of Victorian evolutionary ideas, although we need to recognize that, with only a few notable exceptions, the non-Darwinians believed themselves to be Darwinian through and through.' Piers J. Hale, Isis

Book Description:

This is the first collection of essays to assess the dynamic interplay between evolution and Victorian culture, mapping new relationships between the arts and sciences. Interdisciplinary and broad-ranging, it explores the relationship of evolution to painting, sculpture, dance, music, fiction, poetry, cinema, architecture, theatre, photography, museums, exhibitions and popular culture.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1316646785
• ISBN 13: 9781316646786
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 346
• Editor: Lightman Bernard V