The Birth of Venus Odilon Redon
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Naturalism was not France's only response to Darwin.
A new fantastic mode emerges everywhere in late 19th century France in response to Darwin's theory of evolution. I call this the fantastic natural. The fantastic natural shifts from representing nature as an orderly system to a mysterious chaos of aberration. It conjures up mermaids, monsters, monkeys, and madmen to consider the question: What is man's relationship with his non-human origins? My current book project studies this question and the way it influences 19th century discourse on gender and sexuality, race, and technology. Working with authors Michelet, Lautréamont, Huysmans, Zola, Verne, and Rosny-Aine, I show how the ways we represent nature have enormous implications for the way we think about mankind. |
Animals of the Sea Odilon Redon
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