Genealogies of Genius (Palgrave Studies in Cultural and Intellectual History)

Genius as a historical concept, rather than as a presumed trans-historical fact, is surprisingly underexamined, even as millions of daily decisions personal, institutional, and governmental are made according to unexamined assumptions about it. The essays in this book show that the origins and uses of concepts of genius warrant careful examination. The Essays In This Volume Examine The Uses To Which Concepts Of Genius Have Been Put In Different Cultures And Times. Collectively, They Make Two New Statements. First, Seen In Historical And Comparative Perspective, Genius Is Not A Natural Fact And Universal Human Constant That Has Only Recently Been Identified By Modern Science, But Instead A Categorical Mode Of Assessing Human Ability And Merit. Second, As A Concept With Specific Definitions And Resonances, Genius Has Performed Specific Cultural Work Within Each Of The Societies In Which It Had A Historical Presence. -- From Back Cover. The Problem Of Genius In The Age Of Slavery / Joyce E. Chaplin -- Genius Versus Democracy : Excellence And Singularity In Postrevolutionary France / Nathalie Heinich -- Equality, Inequality, And Difference : Genius As Problem And Possibility In American Political/scientific Discourse / John Carson -- Genius And Obsession : Do You Have To Be Mad To Be Smart? / Lennard J. Davis -- Inspiration To Perspiration : Francis Galton's Hereditary Genius In Victorian Context / Janet Browne -- Genius Must Do The Scullery Work Of The World : New Women, Feminists, And Genius, Circa 1880-1920 / Lucy Delap -- The Cult Of The Genius In Germany And Austria At The Dawn Of The Twentieth Century / Julia Barbara Köhne -- Cultivating Genius In A Bolshevik Country / Irina Sirotkina -- Insight In The Age Of Automation / David Bates -- Genius And Evil / Darrin M. Mcmahon. Edited By Joyce E. Chaplin And Darrin M. Mcmahon. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-10 The Problem of Genius in the Age of Slavery....Pages 11-28 Genius versus Democracy: Excellence and Singularity in Postrevolutionary France....Pages 29-41 Equality, Inequality, and Difference: Genius as Problem and Possibility in American Political/Scientific Discourse....Pages 43-62 Genius and Obsession: Do You Have to Be Mad to Be Smart?....Pages 63-75 Inspiration to Perspiration: Francis Galton’s Hereditary Genius in Victorian Context....Pages 77-95 “Genius Must Do the Scullery Work of the World”: New Women, Feminists, and Genius, circa 1880–1920....Pages 97-113 The Cult of the Genius in Germany and Austria at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century....Pages 115-135 Cultivating Genius in a Bolshevik Country....Pages 137-151 Insight in the Age of Automation....Pages 153-169 Genius and Evil....Pages 171-182 Back Matter....Pages 183-191 The essays in this volume seek to examine the uses to which concepts of genius have been put in different cultures and times. Collectively, they are designed to make two new statements. First, seen in historical and comparative perspective, genius is not a natural fact and universal human constant that has been only recently identified by modern science, but instead a categorical mode of assessing human ability and merit. Second, as a concept with specific definitions and resonances, genius has performed specific cultural work within each of the societies in which it had a historical presence. Annotation Genius as a historical concept, rather than as a presumed trans-historical fact, is surprisingly underexamined, even as millions of daily decisions-personal, institutional, and governmental-are made according to unexamined assumptions about it. The essays in this book show that the origins and uses of concepts of genius warrant careful examination