A Cultural History of Tragedy in the Age of Empire (The Cultural Histories Series)

This volume traces a path across the metamorphoses of tragedy and the tragic in Western cultures during the bourgeois age of nations, revolutions, and empires, roughly delimited by the French Revolution and the First World War. Its starting point is the recognition that tragedy did not die with Romanticism, as George Steiner famously argued over half a century ago, but rather mutated and dispersed, converging into a variety of unstable, productive forms both on the stage and off. In turn, the tragic as a concept and mode transformed itself under the pressure of multiple social, historical and political-ideological phenomena. This volume therefore deploys a narrative centred on hybridization extending across media, genres, demographics, faiths both religious and secular, and national boundaries. The essays also tell a story of how tragedy and the tragic offered multiple means of capturing the increasingly fragmented perception of reality and history that emerged in the 19th century.Each chapter takes a different theme as its focus: forms and media; sites of performance and circulation; communities of production and consumption; philosophy and social theory; religion, ritual and myth; politics of city and nation; society and family, and gender and sexuality.ISBN : 9781474288071 Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS SERIES PREFACE Introduction CHAPTER ONE Forms and Media THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF CULTURE AND THE EVOLUTION OF GENRES CENSORSHIP OF THE STAGE AND THE RISE OF HYBRID FORMS TRAGEDY’S TEXTUAL FORMS PAINTING, ILLUSTRATION, AND TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING CHAPTER TWO Sites of Performance and Circulation CHAPTER THREE Communities of Production and Consumption BRITISH LAWS, CENSORSHIP, AND CULTURAL CONVENTIONS CROSSING THE CHANNEL CROSSING LONDON: BOADEN AND POLACK SWEENEY TODD CONCLUSION CHAPTER FOUR Philosophy and Social Theory THE PROBLEM OF VERNACULAR TRAGEDY SCHELLING HEGEL SCHOPENHAUER NIETZSCHE TRAGEDY AND SOCIAL THEORY CHAPTER FIVE Religion, Ritual and Myth CHAPTER SIX Politics of City and Nation TWO KNIVES: BUILDING THE BOURGEOIS OBJECT-WORLD IN WOYZECK AND MISS JULIE TRAGIC FURNITURE: THE CASE OF ENGLISH STAGE TRAGEDY GHOSTS AND GLOBAL DOMESTIC TRAGEDY CONCLUSION: THE PHANTASMAGORIA OF TRAGIC OBJECTS CHAPTER SEVEN Society and Family CHAPTER EIGHT Gender and Sexuality INTRODUCTION: THE RISE OF THE BOURGEOIS FAMILY THEATERS OF CRUELTY: FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS ON THE ROMANTIC-ERA STAGE THE ENEMY WITHIN: PATHOLOGIZING THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILY “ MATER SEMPER CERTA EST ”: CONTESTED PATERNITY AND MATERNAL REVENGE DAUGHTERS OF THE FIN-DE-SIÈCLE CONCLUSION: “WHAT A WORLD WE MAKE, / THE OPPRESSOR AND THE OPPRESSED” 54 NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX This volume traces a path across the metamorphoses of tragedy and the tragic in Western cultures during the bourgeois age of nations, revolutions, and empires, roughly delimited by the French Revolution and the First World War. Its starting point is the recognition that tragedy did not die with Romanticism, as George Steiner famously argued over half a century ago, but rather mutated and dispersed, converging into a variety of unstable, productive forms both on the stage and off. In turn, the tragic as a concept and mode transformed itself under the pressure of multiple social, historical and political-ideological phenomena. This volume therefore deploys a narrative centred on hybridization extending across media, genres, demographics, faiths both religious and secular, and national boundaries. The essays also tell a story of how tragedy and the tragic offered multiple means of capturing the increasingly fragmented perception of reality and history that emerged in the 19th century. Each chapter takes a different theme as its focus: forms and media; sites of performance and circulation; communities of production and consumption; philosophy and social theory; religion, ritual and myth; politics of city and nation; society and family, and gender and sexuality. How have ideas of the tragic influenced Western culture? How has tragedy been shaped by its social and cultural conditions? In a work that spans 2,500 years, these ambitious questions are addressed by 55 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. Extending far beyond the established aesthetic tradition, the volumes describe the forms tragedy takes to represent human conflict and suffering, and how it engages with matters of philosophy, society, politics, religion and gender. Volume One covers the period 500 BCE-1000 AD How Have Ideas Of The Tragic Influenced Western Culture? How Has Tragedy Been Shaped By Its Social And Cultural Conditions? In A Work That Spans 2,500 Years, These Ambitious Questions Are Addressed By 55 Experts, Each Contributing Their Overview Of A Theme Applied To A Period In History. Extending Far Beyond The Established Aesthetic Tradition, The Volumes Describe The Forms Tragedy Takes To Represent Human Conflict And Suffering, And How It Engages With Matters Of Philosophy, Society, Politics, Religion And Gender. Volume 5 Covers The Period 1800-1920.