This is a study about the “grilljanne”, a type of young dandy in fin-de-siècle Stockholm. The “grilljanne” was known for his odd, flamboyant sense of style, his constant economic troubles, and his disruptive behaviour in public. The main source for descriptions of the “grilljanne” is the boulevard newspaper Figaro and its editor-in-chief Georg Lundström (who published under the signature Jörgen). The purpose of the study is to examine how the “grilljanne” was portrayed as an opposite to the dominant bourgeoise ideals of the 1890s. By considering the “grilljanne” a stereotype, it looks at how the stereotype was constructed by the writers of Figaro, and how it relates to contemporary discussions about class, gender, sexuality and youth. The analysis is inspired by recent research into the history of masculinity, and how deviant forms of masculinity have been constructed as countertypes to the dominant ideals. The “grilljanne” was continuously mocked in Figaro, both because of his style and his behaviour. Specifically, he was portrayed as the antithesis of bourgeois masculine ideals of self-restraint and moderation. His vanity, snobbishness and excessive interest in fashionable consumption makes him comparable to various forms of dandyism during the second half of the nineteenth century and made him a caricature of over-the-top elegance. The negative portrayal can also be seen as an expression of anxieties regarding blurred lines between classes, changing sexual morality and increasingly unclear distinctions between male and female behaviour. The “grilljanne” was often also described as a symptom of a debased and degenerate youth. This related to the specific fear of decadence, a phenomenon which has usually been studied by historians of literature. This study has shown that phenomena such as decadence and dandyism were intimately connected to fin-de-siècle anxieties about class, masculinity, sexuality and youth.

S’efforcer d’être simple, telle est l’ambition constante qui anime Jules Renard. Contraint à la simplicité par la pauvreté de son imagination, qui le conduit à privilégier la « chose vue » et à puiser à la source étroite du quotidien vécu, il ne la subit pas pour autant, mais fait de l’effacement et de la réduction le cœur de son art littéraire. La première partie de la thèse envisage le questionnement théorique et esthétique de l’écrivain dans le champ littéraire de la fin de siècle. Si Renard hérite en partie des modèles classique et réaliste, sa simplicité est surtout construite en réaction à l’ambition totalisante du réalisme et de naturalisme, qui, recouvrant le réel de langage, l’étouffe. Pour résoudre la crise générale de la mimèsis, l’auteur entend rétablir un lien de motivation entre le langage et le réel. La deuxième partie s’attache à déterminer les aspects rhétoriques de l’écriture du simple, montrant que la simplicité s’inscrit également au cœur de la poétique de Jules Renard, déterminant des choix génériques et narratifs, et nécessitant un double mouvement de réduction et de concentration, qui n’est pas sans écueils. La simplicité n’est pas pour autant un thème de prédilection qui se développerait de manière linéaire chez l’auteur, elle oriente une dynamique, ouvrant un cheminement dialectique, difficile et peuplé d’obstacles. La dernière partie en montre la dimension morale, pratique et philosophique. La simplicité n’est pas pour Renard une donnée immédiate de la conscience, mais une valeur à construire et à défendre sur le terrain politique, qui s’enracine dans un terreau philosophique fondé sur la notion d’immédiateté. / Jules Renard’s ceaseless ambition is to try and be simple. Although his lack of imagination, which leads him to favour things that he saw and to draw on the sometimes narrow everyday life, reduces him to simplicity, he does not passively receive it but on the contrary ensures that blurring and reduction are key principles of his literary art. The first part of this thesis tackles with the writer’s theoretical and aesthetic questioning, understood in the literary landscape of the late fin de siècle. Even if Renard partly inherits the classic and realistic models, his simplicity is mostly built against realism’s and naturalism’s totalizing ambition, which suffocates the reality by covering it up with words. So as to solve the general crisis of the mimesis, the writer intends to build a bridge between language and reality. The second part of this work tries to single out the theoretical characteristics of the simple style. It shows that simplicity stands at the very center of Renard’s poetics, underlies choices related to the genre or the narration and implies both reduction and concentration, which is not easy to fulfill. Simplicity is not, on the other hand, a favourite topic with a linear development, but it triggers off a dynamic, dialectical and difficult process. The last part reveals its moral, practical and philosophical aspect. For simplicity is not for Renard an immediate matter of consciousness but a value which is to build and to defend politically. It is philosophically rooted in immediacy.

L’enjeu de cette étude est de défiger l’image du patriote lorrain enraciné dans sa petite patrie, qui l’emporta dans l’histoire littéraire : à Barrès, défenseur de l’enracinement, répondrait Gide, le voyageur. De 1887 à 1923, Maurice Barrès effectua une quarantaine de voyages à l’étranger. En repartant du chapitre qu’Albert Thibaudet consacra au voyageur dans La Vie de Maurice Barrès, oninterrogea l’hypothèse selon laquelle Barrès se forma un itinéraire esthétique et intellectuel à partir de ses voyages. Contre la dualité diachronique de l’écrivain, qui passa du Culte du Moi au Roman de l’énergie nationale, on dégagea une trajectoire en quatre temps : Barrès se mit à l’école de l’Italie, de l’Espagne, de l’Orient, et, durant la période de définition de son nationalisme, interrogeaparticulièrement la leçon de la Grèce. En plus de considérer le voyage comme un lieu éduquant l’esthète et l’écrivain, on analysa l’instruction apportée par l’étranger à l’homme politique. À cette fin, on fonda la réflexion sur les manuscrits du fonds Barrès de la BnF et on privilégia une approche génétique, qui remette en mouvement l’écrivain. Par l’intermédiaire de Barrès, on entend saisir larenaissance que connut le voyage d’écrivain, sous l’influence du modèle des esthètes anglais, dans le contexte des redécouvertes artistiques et de la montée des tensions internationales. / The aim of this thesis is to challenge the prevailing image of Maurice Barrès in literary history as a patriotic native of Lorraine, deeply rooted in his homeland: Barrès is considered a defender of local roots, as opposed to Gide, seen as a traveller. From 1887 to 1923, Maurice Barrès made around forty journeys abroad. In revisiting the chapter which Albert Thibaudet dedicated to the traveller in La Vie de Maurice Barrès (The Life of Maurice Barrès), we question the hypothesis that Barrès shaped himself an aesthetic and intellectual path, drawing from his travels. Against the diachronic duality of the writer, whose mind-set evolved between publication of the Culte du Moi (The Cult of the Self) and the Roman de l'énergie nationale (Novel of National Energy), there emerges a four step path: he looked to and was influenced by different schools of thought from Italy, Spain, the Orient and, during the period in which his sense of nationalism was formed, he examined the Greek lesson in particular. As well as considering travel as something which educated both the aesthete and the writer, we analyse the knowledge acquired by the politician on his travels abroad. To that end, focus is placed upon manuscripts from the Barrès fonds of the BnF and the emphasis is on a genetic approach. Through Barrès, we follow the rebirth of the writer's journey, influenced by the model of the English aesthetes, in the context of artistic rediscoveries and a rise in international tensions.

<p>While Italian art of the twentieth century is usually associated with either the avant-garde practices of Futurism or the classicism of Fascist visual culture, the Italian modernists' complex engagement with concepts of the ‘Baroque’ has yet to be explored. Through an extensive analysis of paintings, sculptures, publications, collecting practices, and exhibitions, my dissertation addresses this lacuna by investigating how the Baroque was discursively constructed and visually represented in Italian modernist artistic and cultural debates between 1880 and 1945. I study how artists and critics such as Umberto Boccioni, Giorgio De Chirico, Adolfo Wildt, Lucio Fontana, and Roberto Longhi championed or disparaged the Baroque in the context of heated debates over the import of Italy’s rich cultural heritage, its status in modern Europe, and the potential role of avant-garde art as a catalyst for national regeneration. In contrast to previous scholars I argue that the development of modern art in Italy was actively shaped by cultural perceptions about the Baroque. My dissertation therefore sheds new light on the role of style in the cultural politics of Italy, which in turn will transform our understanding of visual culture in modern Italy, and of twentieth-century representations of the Baroque in art, literature, and aesthetics.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis examines the relationships cabaret dancer Jane Avril formed with artist Toulouse-Lautrec and photographer Paul Sescau. As the star dancer of the Moulin rouge, Avril enlisted these two artists to create promotional images for her that set her apart from other performers in the competitive entertainment scene of the 1890s. This ability to direct her own advertisement methods was a creative opportunity that was available to few women during this time. These three figures were friends and artistic partners who lived in the outcast of society in fin-de-siecle Montmartre where they worked together and supported one another. Their many collaborations prove that Avril as well aware of the power she had in commissioning the most successful avant-garde artists of her time. This thesis studies Toulouse Lautrec’s painting Jane Avril Leaving the Moulin Rouge in chapter one, his poster, Jardin de Paris in chapter two, and Paul Sescau’s photograph of Avril in chapter three. Moving from Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting and poster to Paul Sescau’s photograph, I will show how Avril utilized multiple mediums to disseminate her image across Paris. Ultimately, mass media afforded Avril the most direct agency in shaping her public image. These collaborations prove that Toulouse-Lautrec in particular had an acute awareness of the public persona Avril crafted as a sophisticated yet unorthodox dancer.

Entre 1890 et 1910 les œuvres de Georges de Feure (1868-1943) illustrent diverses représentations de la féminité. S'inscrivant tout d'abord au sein du symbolisme puis de l'Art nouveau, les œuvres créées par de Feure présentent des transformations dans le traitement du motif féminin. Participant au mouvement symboliste, Georges de Feure collabore avec le milieu artistique montmartrois et aborde les thèmes décadents du pessimisme schopenhauerien, de la supériorité de l'Idée sur la réalité et de la perversité féminine. Influencé par les poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, de Feure représente abondamment le thème de la Femme fatale et ses différentes déclinaisons iconographiques liées à la domination, la toxicité, la cruauté et le vice involontaire. Dans une deuxième partie de sa carrière, les œuvres de Georges de Feure adoptent l'esthétique Art nouveau et présentent plusieurs caractéristiques de modernité. La stylisation et le thème de l'industrialisation des arts décoratifs apparaissent comme nouveaux éléments des créations qu'il conçoit pour le Pavillon de l'Art Nouveau lors de l'Exposition universelle de Paris en 1900. Influencé par le japonisme, des caractéristiques d'élégance et d'indépendance sont désormais présentes dans ses œuvres mettant en scène le type féminin de la Femme à la mode. Le débat entourant la Femme nouvelle dans la fin-de-siècle eut des répercussions dans les affiches réalisées par de Feure. Les représentations de la Femme nouvelle apparaissent dans les affiches faisant la promotion de performances liées à la danse. Un changement de commanditaire modifie toutefois les représentations de la féminité dans les affiches. Dans les affiches artistiques conçues pour les éditeurs et galeristes de l'avant-garde, les représentations de la féminité introduisent graduellement des caractéristiques de la Femme à la mode, ce qui participe à la création d'un nouveau type féminin que nous avons baptisé Femme hybride. Rapidement la Femme à la mode l'emporte complètement sur la Femme nouvelle dans les affiches conçues par de Feure après 1900 et c'est finalement à partir de ce moment que l'œuvre affichiste et l'œuvre peint de l'artiste se rejoignent. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Georges de Feure, fin-de-siècle, Femme fatale, Femme à la mode, Femme nouvelle.

<p>This dissertation explores the meaning of art and religion in fin-de-siècle Vienna through the symphonies of the composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and the philosophical and dramatic works of the poet Siegfried Lipiner (1856-1911). Using as a framework aesthetic discourses concerning the ability of music to be "read" as a narrative text, this study highlights the significant role of both poet and composer in the cultural and intellectual world of Vienna at the end of the nineteenth century. In this study, I compare and contrast Lipiner's vision of religious renewal with the redemptive narratives in the programs of Mahler's first four symphonies, which were composed during a period when the poet and composer shared a close friendship and intellectual exchange. Furthermore, I also discuss Mahler and Lipiner's works in relation to the writings of the Polish Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1835), the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), and the composer and cultural critic, Richard Wagner (1813-1883), demonstrating how the images of the heroic martyr, the Übermensch and the Volk, play a role in the re-conception of man's relationship to the divine, which is central to Mahler and Lipiner's idea of redemption. However, I also claim that the political and cultural climate of Vienna around 1900 played an important role in their interpretation of these ideas. Despite their public conversion and cultural assimilation, Mahler and Lipiner's Jewish heritage distinctly shaped their interest in artistic-religious redemption both to cope with their own personal feelings of alienation in the society in which they lived, and as a cure for the existential malaise of their time. This study demonstrates not only the significant impact of Lipiner's aesthetic-religious philosophy on Mahler's music, but also portrays their vision of redemption as an re-envisioning of man's relationship to God, which stands in contrast to the modern trend of secularism, and reflects a little-explored dimension of aesthetic and religious culture in fin-de-siècle Vienna.</p> / Dissertation

Spanish travel writings on China at the end of the 19th century have been largely ignored in the history of literature. Nevertheless, this topic deserves a thorough examination since these texts constitute a particular and important vision of an "Orientalized" country about an Oriental nation during a critical and complicated historical moment. On one hand, Spain was characterized by an irreversible decadence. Thus, in contrast to British and French imperial discourse, which reflects colonial experiences, Spanish travel writings provide a unique perspective from a Western empire that shared a similar fate with the Other: both being traditional and decadent nations. Furthermore, although China was a goal of imperial ambition, it was far less colonized than other regions. As a result, the commanding imperial gaze and fearless exploration were less likely to be cast on China. In addition, despite its general decline, China remained the home of an ancient and highly advanced civilization that still deserved Western respect and offered the West much to learn. Considering these facts, this dissertation consists of a general analysis of Spanish travel literature on China from 1870 to 1910. The primary purposes of the dissertation are to portray the bibliographic genealogy of references on Spanish travelers and their writings on China during this period; to depict their particular vision in which the construct of colonial discourse is transformed into a pretension to recover the lost imperial prestige and an interiorized reflection on Spain's own problems and possible solutions; and to present a fundamental ambivalence or even difficult conciliation between the colonial discourse and its resistance, ideology and utopia, as well as imperialist ambition and national crisis. Spanish travel writings on China consequently become an allegory of imperial nostalgia: a yearning for the imperial power that had vanished, without hope of restoration. / text

Scholars describe fin-de-siècle Paris as a city of dualities, and examine its past as a series of crises or a tale of burgeoning optimism and opportunity. Historians of women and gender have noted the limitations of this dualistic approach, and have explored new avenues of interpretation. Specifically, they have shown how the combination of positive and negative impulses created a dynamic space in which women could re-imagine and re-articulate themselves. While this approach illuminates the possibilities that existed for women in a complex urban landscape, it also indicates that fin-de-siècle Paris was a contested city, one fraught with challenges for women living in the French capital. If the mingling of crises and belle époque culture had stimulating results for women’s emergence into urban spaces, it had confusing and conflicting effects as well. My thesis shows how fin-de-siècle Paris was a contradictory city for women artists, at a time when both opportunities and constraints in their profession were at a premium. I examine the ways in which several notable women in the arts – painters Gwen John, Suzanne Valadon, and Romaine Brooks, sculptor Camille Claudel, and writer Rachilde – traversed this unsettling path, and evaluated their experiences through artistic representations of private life. Far from portraying the traditional sphere of domesticity, however, which was considered an important form of artistic expression among women at this time, I argue that their depictions of intimate spaces, bodies, children, and female selfhood, were complex and often ambiguous, and part of a larger attempt to grapple with the shifting nature of identity, both as women, and as professionals. John and Claudel created interiors that were signs of independence and artistic innovation, but also reflections of hardship; Valadon and Brooks invested images of the female and child’s body with strength and power, but also with pain and suffering; and Rachilde developed heroines who were unsuccessful in their attempts to create a unique sense of self. Taken together, these representations demonstrate that women artists did not easily articulate a vision of modern female identity at the turn of twentieth century, but rather, highlighted the inconsistencies of this experience. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2008-11-28 10:48:28.537

This thesis considers the teaching of English literature within extramural organisations for adults in England between 1885 and 1910. This challenges the assumption that the beginnings of English as a tertiary-level academic subject can be traced back only as far as the foundation of the Oxford English School at the end of the nineteenth century; in fact extramural English courses had been flourishing for decades before this, and these reached their zenith in the final years before it was introduced at Oxbridge. Oxford created an Honours School of English in 1894, and the Cambridge English Tripos was established in 1917; in ideological terms, such developments were of course crucial, yet it has too often been the case that the extramural literary teaching being conducted contemporaneously has been sidelined in studies of the period. My first chapter will consider the development of English in various institutional and non-institutional environments before 1885, including Edinburgh University, Dissenting Academies, and Mechanics’ Institutes. Thereafter I will explore the campaign, led by University Extension lecturer John Churton Collins, to incorporate English literature as an honours degree at Oxford. Focusing on the period between 1885 and 1891, this second chapter will assess the veracity of some of Collins’s most vehement claims regarding the apparently low critical and pedagogical standards in existence at the time, which he felt could only be improved if Oxford would agree to institutionalise the subject, and thereby raise the standard of teaching more generally. Collins’s campaign enjoyed more success when he drew attention to the scholarly teaching available within the University Extension Movement; my third chapter is underpinned by research and analysis of previously unexplored material at the archives of London University, such as syllabuses, examination papers, and lecturers’ reports. I examine the way in which English literature, the most popular subject among Extension students, was actually being taught outside the universities while still excluded from Oxbridge. Thereafter my penultimate chapter focuses on an extramural reading group formed by Cambridge Extension lecturer Richard G. Moulton. This section considers Moulton’s formulation of an innovative mode of literary interpretation, tailored specifically to suit the abilities of extramural students, and which also lent itself particularly to the study of novels. Uncollected T. P.’s Weekly articles written by Arnold Bennett highlight the emphasis that he placed on pleasure, rather than scholarship. My final chapter considers Bennett’s self-imposed demarcation from the more serious extramural pedagogues of literature, such as Collins and Moulton, and his extraordinary impact on Edwardian reading habits. A brief coda will compare the findings of the 1921 “Newbolt Report” with my own assessment of fin-de-siècle extramural education.