ENGL 037B. Vision and the Late Victorians

In the last decades of the 19^th century, British society perceived upheavals: rapid colonial expansion, new scientific theories and fields (such as Darwinism, psychology, sexology), the phenomenon of the New Woman, and fears about degeneration at the fin de siècle. At the same time, visual technologies were altering the idea of realism: photography became widespread and cinema came into being. In the artistic world, the Aesthetic and Decadent movements explored what can and cannot be made visible. This course explores how the late Victorians thought about visuality in an era of anxious change. We will study texts that engage with visibility and visual practices, paying attention to photography and painting as well as exhibition catalogs of the British empire, advertising, and periodical illustrations. Authors will include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Amy Levy, Vernon Lee, and Oscar Wilde, among others.
18th/19th c.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2023. Bryant.
Catalog chapter: English Literature
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/english-literature

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