Vision, Science and Literature, 1870-1920: Ocular Horizons (Sci & Culture in the Nineteenth Century)

This book explores the role of vision and the culture of observation in Victorian and modernist ways of seeing. Willis charts the characterization of vision through four organizing principles - small, large, past and future - to survey Victorian conceptions of what vision was. He then explores how this Victorian vision influenced twentieth-century ways of seeing, when anxieties over visual 'truth' became entwined with modernist rejections of objectivity. Winner of the British Society for Literature and Science Annual Prize, 2011 Winner of the Cultural Studies in English Prize, 2012 This book explores the role of vision and the culture of observation in Victorian and modernist ways of seeing. Willis charts the characterization of vision through four organizing principles—small, large, past and future—to survey Victorian conceptions of what vision was. He then explores how this Victorian vision influenced twentieth-century ways of seeing, when anxieties over visual'truth'became entwined with modernist rejections of objectivity. This book explores the Victorian concept of vision across scientific and cultural forms. Willis charts the characterization of vision through four organizing principles - small, large, past and future - to arrive at a Victorian conception of what vision was. Willis then explores how this Victorian vision influenced twentieth-century ways of seeing. This book explores the Victorian concept of vision across scientific and cultural forms. Willis charts the characterization of vision through four organizing principles - small, large, past and future - to arrive at a Victorian conception of what vision was. Willis then explores how this Victorian vision influenced twentieth century ways of seeing By Martin Willis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 267-285) And Index.