The Emergence of Pre-Cinema : Print Culture and the Optical Toy of the Literary Imagination

The book investigates the dispersed emergence of the new visual regime associated with nineteenth-century pre-cinematic spectacles in the literary imagination of the previous centuries. Its comparative angle ranges from the Medieval and Baroque period to the visual and stylistic experimentations of the Romantic age, in the prose of Anne Radcliffe, the experiments of Friedrich Schlegel, and in Wordsworth’s __Prelude__. The book examines the cultural traces of the transformation of perception and representation in art, architecture, literature, and print culture, providing an indispensable background to any discussion of nineteenth-century culture at large and its striving for a figurative model of realism. Understanding the origins of nineteenth-century mimesis through an unacknowledged genealogy of visual practices helps also to redefine novel theory and points to the centrality of the new definition of ‘historicism’ irradiating from Jena Romanticism for the structuring of modern cultural studies. The Book Investigates The Dispersed Emergence Of The New Visual Regime Associated With Nineteenth-century Pre-cinematic Spectacles In The Literary Imagination Of The Previous Centuries. Its Comparative Angle Ranges From The Medieval And Baroque Period To The Visual And Stylistic Experimentations Of The Romantic Age, In The Prose Of Anne Radcliffe, The Experiments Of Friedrich Schlegel, And In Wordsworth's Prelude. The Book Examines The Cultural Traces Of The Transformation Of Perception And Representation In Art, Architecture, Literature, And Print Culture, Providing An Indispensable Background To Any Discussion Of Nineteenth-century Culture At Large And Its Striving For A Figurative Model Of Realism.--back Cover. Introduction: The Emergence Of Pre-cinema -- From Analogia Entis To The Threshold Of Self-reflexivity In The Poetry Of Dante, Donne, And Shakespeare -- The Modern(ist) Reader: Friedrich Schlegel's Fragments, The Emergence Of Modern Philology And The Montage Effect Of Industrial Modernity -- A Map To The Panorama: Intellectualized Vision And The Unrestrained Power Of Shifting Forms In Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries Of Udolpho -- British Flâneurie, Ca. 1805: William Wordsworth As Man With A Movie Camera And The Aesthetic Polarities Of The Emerging Modernity. Alberto Gabriele. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 207-221) And Index. The book investigates the dispersed emergence of the new visual regime associated with nineteenth-century pre-cinematic spectacles in the literary imagination of the previous centuries. Its comparative angle ranges from the Medieval and Baroque period to the visual and stylistic experimentations of the Romantic age, in the prose of Anne Radcliffe, the experiments of Friederich Schlegel, and in Wordsworth's Prelude. The book examines the cultural traces of the transformation of perception and representation in art, architecture, literature, and print culture, providing an indispensable background to any discussion of nineteenth-century culture at large and its striving for a figurative model of realism. Understanding the origins of nineteenth-century mimesis through an unacknowledged genealogy of visual practices helps also to redefine novel theory and points to the centrality of the new definition of 'historicism' irradiating from Jena Romanticism for the structuring of modern cultural studies "The book investigates the dispersed emergence of the new visual regime associated with nineteenth-century pre-cinematic spectacles in the literary imagination of the previous centuries. Its comparative angle ranges from the Medieval and Baroque period to the visual and stylistic experimentations of the Romantic age, in the prose of Anne Radcliffe, the experiments of Friedrich Schlegel, and in Wordsworth's Prelude. The book examines the cultural traces of the transformation of perception and representation in art, architecture, literature, and print culture, providing an indispensable background to any discussion of nineteenth-century culture at large and its striving for a figurative model of realism."--Quatrième de couverture Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: The Emergence of Pre-Cinema....Pages 1-35 From Analogia Entis to the Threshold of Self-Reflexivity in the Poetry of Dante, Donne and Shakespeare....Pages 37-64 The Modern(ist) Reader: Friedrich Schlegel’s Fragments, the Emergence of Modern Philology and the Montage Effect of Industrial Modernity....Pages 65-97 A Map to the Panorama: Intellectualized Vision and the Unrestrained Power of Shifting Forms in Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho ....Pages 99-160 British Flâneurie, ca. 1805: William Wordsworth as Man with a Movie Camera and the Aesthetic Polarities of the Emerging Modernity....Pages 161-206 Back Matter....Pages 207-229