19th Century Europe A Cultural History

by Salmi, Hannu

• ISBN13: 9780745643601
• ISBN10: 0745643604
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-20
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

Nineteenth-Century Europe offers a much-needed concise and fresh look at European culture between the Great Revolution in France and the First World War. It encompasses all major themes of the period, from the rising nationalism of the early nineteenth century to the pessimistic views of fin de siecle. It is a lucid, fluent presentation that appeals to both students of history and culture and the general audience interested in European cultural history.The book attempts to see the culture of the nineteenth century in broad terms, integrating everyday ways of life into the story as mental, material and social practices. It also highlights ways of thinking, mentalities and emotions in order to construct a picture of this period of another kind, that goes beyond a story of "isms" or intellectual and artistic movements.Although the nineteenth century has often been described as a century of rising factory pipes and grey industrial cities, as a cradle of modern culture, the era has many faces. This book pays special attention to the experiences of contemporaries, from the fear for steaming engines to the longing for the pre-industrial past, from the idle calmness of bourgeois life to the awakening consumerism of the department stores, from curious exoticism to increasing xenophobia, from optimistic visions of future to the expectations of an approaching end. The century that is only a few generations away from us is strange and familiar at the same time a bygone world that has in many ways influenced our present day world.

Author Biography

Hannu Salmi is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Turku.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Industrialization: Economy and Culture

The Faustian Man: A Society in Motion

From the Cult of Genius to Worship of Art

On the Cultural History of Nationalism

A Century of Family and Home: Daily Routines and Country Excursions

Baudelaire in the Department Store: Urban Living and Consumption

The Breakthrough of Mechanical Reproduction

Colonial Culture and European Identity

Fin de Siècle: The End of a Century

Conclusion: “Things to Come”

Notes

Sources and Literature

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.