ENL 5256 Spring 2018 Faulk

British Aestheticism began in the 1850s, with the dream of pure art with a flawless form that existed only for itself. Walter Pater’s The Renaissance provided the movement with a philosophical foundation. Yet by the end of the century, Aestheticism would be irrevocably linked in the public mind with the Wilde trial and all things scandalous and perverse.

We will trace the evolution of Aestheticism over the course of the 19th century, as the movement became a byword for “Decadence.” We will take special note of transformations in the Aesthete idea of Beauty. We will consider questions like these: did imperialism, gender, consumerism, industrialism somehow shape Victorian notions of the Beautiful, despite the protestations of Aesthetes to the contrary? How did the idea of the Beautiful transform literary criticism? Most important, does “Art for Art’s Sake” mean anything in the Age of Neo-liberalism?

Our reading will include but is not limited to: The Renaissance, Walter Pater; Against Nature, Joris-Karl Huysmans; Hauntings and Other Fantastical Tales, Vernon Lee; The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde.