Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe
An illuminating exploration of fin de siècle decadence “by a well-known authority in the areas of European literature, culture, and psychoanalysis” (Pre-Raphaelite Studies).

The influential writer and scholar Charles Bernheimer described decadence as a “stimulant that bends thought out of shape, deforming traditional conceptual molds.” In this posthumously published work, Bernheimer succeeds in making a critical concept out of this perennially fashionable, rarely understood term.

This remarkable collection of essays shows the contradictions of the phenomenon, which is both a condition and a state of mind. In seeking to show why people have failed to give a satisfactory account of the term decadence, Bernheimer argues that we often mistakenly take decadence to represent something concrete, that we see as some sort of agent. His salutary response is to return to those authors and artists whose work constitutes the topos of decadence, rereading key late nineteenth-century authors such as Nietzsche, Zola, Hardy, Wilde, Moreau, and Freud to rediscover the very dynamics of the decadent.

Through careful analysis of the literature, art, and music of the fin de siècle—including a riveting discussion of the many faces of Salome—Bernheimer leaves us with a fascinating and multidimensional look at decadence.

Honorable Mention for the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association
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Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe
An illuminating exploration of fin de siècle decadence “by a well-known authority in the areas of European literature, culture, and psychoanalysis” (Pre-Raphaelite Studies).

The influential writer and scholar Charles Bernheimer described decadence as a “stimulant that bends thought out of shape, deforming traditional conceptual molds.” In this posthumously published work, Bernheimer succeeds in making a critical concept out of this perennially fashionable, rarely understood term.

This remarkable collection of essays shows the contradictions of the phenomenon, which is both a condition and a state of mind. In seeking to show why people have failed to give a satisfactory account of the term decadence, Bernheimer argues that we often mistakenly take decadence to represent something concrete, that we see as some sort of agent. His salutary response is to return to those authors and artists whose work constitutes the topos of decadence, rereading key late nineteenth-century authors such as Nietzsche, Zola, Hardy, Wilde, Moreau, and Freud to rediscover the very dynamics of the decadent.

Through careful analysis of the literature, art, and music of the fin de siècle—including a riveting discussion of the many faces of Salome—Bernheimer leaves us with a fascinating and multidimensional look at decadence.

Honorable Mention for the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association
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Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe

Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe

Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe

Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe

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Overview

An illuminating exploration of fin de siècle decadence “by a well-known authority in the areas of European literature, culture, and psychoanalysis” (Pre-Raphaelite Studies).

The influential writer and scholar Charles Bernheimer described decadence as a “stimulant that bends thought out of shape, deforming traditional conceptual molds.” In this posthumously published work, Bernheimer succeeds in making a critical concept out of this perennially fashionable, rarely understood term.

This remarkable collection of essays shows the contradictions of the phenomenon, which is both a condition and a state of mind. In seeking to show why people have failed to give a satisfactory account of the term decadence, Bernheimer argues that we often mistakenly take decadence to represent something concrete, that we see as some sort of agent. His salutary response is to return to those authors and artists whose work constitutes the topos of decadence, rereading key late nineteenth-century authors such as Nietzsche, Zola, Hardy, Wilde, Moreau, and Freud to rediscover the very dynamics of the decadent.

Through careful analysis of the literature, art, and music of the fin de siècle—including a riveting discussion of the many faces of Salome—Bernheimer leaves us with a fascinating and multidimensional look at decadence.

Honorable Mention for the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780801874642
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date: 02/03/2022
Series: Parallax: Re-visions of Culture and Society
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 248
File size: 2 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Charles Bernheimer is cochair of the program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. His books include Flaubert and Kafka: Studies in Psychopoetic Structure and Figures of Ill Repute: Representing Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century France.T. Jefferson Kline is a professor of French at Boston University.

Table of Contents

Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe
Editors' Preface
Introduction
Nietzsche's Decadence Philosophy
Flaubert's Salambo: History in Decadence
Decadent Naturalism/Naturalist Decadence
Visions of Salome
Decadent Diagnostics
Freud's Decadence
Appendix: Outline of Freud's Decadence

What People are Saying About This

Emily S. Apter

Charlie had many friends, admirers and intellectual interlocutors in the field, and the book will find an important place with them, both as a homage to his memory, and as a testimonial to the kind of literary-historical-psychoanalytical scholarship he represented in literary studies.

Emily S. Apter, University of California Los Angeles

From the Publisher

Charlie had many friends, admirers and intellectual interlocutors in the field, and the book will find an important place with them, both as a homage to his memory, and as a testimonial to the kind of literary-historical-psychoanalytical scholarship he represented in literary studies.
—Emily S. Apter, University of California Los Angeles

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