Writing the Pre-Raphaelites: Text, Context, Subtext

ISBN 10: 0754657175 / ISBN 13: 9780754657170

Published by Routledge, 2009

About this Item

A collection of essays which claims that a complex network of texts by critics, biographers and diarists established the credibility and influence of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. It reveals that the British group anticipated later avant-gardes by using the written word to configure for itself a radical artistic identity. Editor(s): Giebelhausen, Michaela; Barringer, Tim. Num Pages: 276 pages, Includes 24 b&w illustrations. BIC Classification: ACVM. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 241 x 163 x 22. Weight in Grams: 664. . 2009. 1st Edition. hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780754657170

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Writing the Pre-Raphaelites: Text, Context, Subtext
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0754657175
• ISBN 13: 9780754657170
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This vibrant collection of essays claims that a complex network of texts by critics, biographers and diarists established the credibility and influence of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Throughout the twentieth century, Modernist taste failed to acknowledge the achievement of oppositional groupings such as the Pre-Raphaelites. The essays collected here, however, reveal that the British group anticipated later avant-gardes by using the written word to configure for itself a radical artistic identity. Public and critics alike were scandalized by the radicalism of Pre-Raphaelite painting, its unflinching portrayal of historical figures and of contemporary life, and its irreverent attitude to artistic convention. Pre-Raphaelitism's innovations were not confined to style: new forms of artistic identity and behaviour were explored. As the contributors interrogate the texts through which Pre-Raphaelitism was constructed, they demonstrate that the movement's wide influence as a cultural phenomenon derived from the interplay between exhibited works and critical discourse. Applying a range of sophisticated methodologies from the fields of literary studies, art history, and cultural studies, these interdisciplinary essays uncover the neglected role of texts in the success of the Pre-Raphaelite rebellion and argue in favor of a new centrality for this movement in the history of nineteenth-century European culture.

About the Author

Dr Michaela Giebelhausen is based at the University of Essex, UK.

Tim Barringer is Paul Mellon Professor in the History of Art at Yale University, USA.