The Persistence of Melancholia in Arts and Culture

This book explores the history and continuing relevance of melancholia as an amorphous but richly suggestive theme in literature, music, and visual culture, as well as philosophy and the history of ideas. Inspired by Albrecht Dürer’s engraving Melencolia I (1514)—the first visual representation of artistic melancholy—this volume brings together contributions by scholars from a variety of disciplines. Topics include Melencolia I and its reception; how melancholia inhabits landscapes, soundscapes, figures, and objects; melancholia in medical and psychological contexts; how melancholia both enables and troubles artistic creation; and Sigmund Freud’s essay “Mourning and Melancholia” (1917). Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Colour Plates 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 13 List of Contributors 14 Introduction: The Persistence of Melancholia in Arts and Culture 16 1 Hearts on Fire: Renaissance Portraiture and Erotic Melancholy 28 2 Between the Angel and the Dog: Dürer’s Melancholy Community 44 3 Dürer, Music, and Melencolia I 64 4 The Shape of Things to Come: Dürer’s Polyhedron 83 5 On Vanishing Land (2013): The Eerie, W. G. Sebald, and English Hauntology 109 6 After the End: The Temporality of Melancholia 138 7 The Melancholy Art 153 8 Temporal Turbulence: In Praise of Anachronism 175 9 Facing Melancholia: Racial Implications of the Disengaged Gaze 194 10 The Melancholic Horizon in Australian Landscape Art 207 11 Against a Melancholic Art History: The Afterlife of Images 224 Index 235 This book explores the history and continuing relevance of melancholia as an amorphous but richly suggestive theme in literature, music, and visual culture, as well as philosophy and the history of ideas. Inspired by Albrecht Durer's engraving 'Melencolia I' (1514)-the first visual representation of artistic melancholy-this volume brings together contributions by scholars from a variety of disciplines. Topics include: 'Melencolia I' and its reception; how melancholia inhabits landscapes, soundscapes, figures and objects; melancholia in medical and psychological contexts; how melancholia both enables and troubles artistic creation; and Sigmund Freud's essay "Mourning and Melancholia" (1917)