Writing the Pre-Raphaelites: Text, Context, Subtext

by Giebelhausen,Michaela; Barringe

• ISBN13: 9780754657170
• ISBN10: 0754657175
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Throughout the twentieth century, Modernism's triumphant narrative overshadowed the achievement of oppositional groupings such as the Pre-Raphaelites. After the demise of Modernism a more pluralistic account of nineteenth-century artistic politics is necessary. Both public and critics were scandalized by the radicalism of Pre-Raphaelite painting, its unflinching portrayal of contemporary life and irreverent attitude to artistic convention. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood found in Italian 'Primitive' painting and the close study of nature the materials for a radical critique of the traditions represented by their academic masters. Pre-Raphaelitism's innovations were not confined to style: new forms of artistic identity and behaviour were explored.The underlying claim of this book is that a complex network of texts by critics, biographers and diarists, established the credibility and influence of this movement. As with later avant-gardes, the written word was instrumental in configuring a radical artistic identity.Writing the Pre-Raphaelites collects a series of original essays which interrogate the texts through which 'Pre-Raphaelitism' was constructed. Its wide influence as a cultural movement derived from the interplay between exhibited works and critical discourse. The editors' introduction explores the neglected role of these texts in the success of the Pre-Raphaelite rebellion. By applying a historiographical perspective to the development of Pre-Raphaelitism, the authors claim a new centrality for this movement in the history of nineteenth-century European culture. In doing so, they employ a range of sophisticated methodologies from literary studies, art history and cultural studies.