The science of decadence

In the nineteenth century, the concept of decadence was not solely of aesthetic interest but had a number of scientific applications. Decadence itself is an organic metaphor, extending the natural processes of decline and decay to societies and the arts. Rather than rejecting nature outright, decadent authors readily embraced new scientific theories that changed the way people thought about the natural world. The pessimism of nineteenth-century science stemmed from the brutal world of industrial capitalism in which it was developed. Decadent writers then incorporated both scientific ideas and language into a literary style obsessed with decay and decline. Finally, science returned to decadent literature to pathologize certain modes of artistic expression as yet another sign that certain types of individuals were ‘degenerate’. Three key scientific theories of the nineteenth century underpin the decadent fixation on decline, decay, and degeneration: uniformitarianism, evolution, and the conservation of energy. All three theories identify impermanence in natural structures previously believed to be permanent and stable

Peinture et correspondances dans l’oeuvre de Baudelaire

Hannoosh Michele. Peinture et correspondances dans l’oeuvre de Baudelaire. In: Cahiers de l'Association internationale des études francaises, 2010, n°62. pp. 207-221

Histoire d'une édition : le Journal de Delacroix, archéologie et reconstitution d'un document

Delacroix's Journal is one of the most important works in the literature of art history. The new critical edition of the Journal (Paris, José Corti, 2009) offers a wholly new text, established from the original manuscripts and new manuscript sources; an important critical apparatus; a "Supplement" consisting of 400 pages of newly rediscovered or reconstituted notes; and a biographical dictionary of all contemporaries appearing in the diary. This article retraces the multiple processes by which Delacroix's work has been elucidated, restored to its original form and reintegrated from scattered or lost fragments, thus constituting a text which is a primary source on nineteenth-century France, an extraordinary reflexion on aesthetics, and a great work of literature in its own right

Wives, Witches, and Warriors: Women in Arabic Popular Epic

This dissertation consolidates the known corpus of the medieval Arabic popular epic (sırah sha bıyah) in order to examine the roles of its female characters and how they relate to power. Borrowing from feminist theory, the study takes as its organizing principle the categories of “power-over,” “power-to,” and “power-with,” showing that how a woman is judged for expressing power depends upon how her actions fit into one of these three categories. Moreover, each expression of power tends to be connected to a woman’s familial relationships: sexually available women are usually classified as expressing “power-over,” while the nonsexual relationships of sisters and daughters exemplify “power-to.” The character of the selfless mother represents the ultimate expression of “power-with.” By comparing these characterizations to portrayals of women in religious, historical, and adab works also created during the Middle Periods of Islamic history, we can conclude that the modern perception of women being confined to the private sphere and thus invisible in medieval Arabic literary production is based on ignorance of their ubiquitous and complex roles in more popular forms of literature

Imagination esthétique et conscience historique : Jules Michelet et les arts plastiques

L’œuvre de Jules Michelet constitue un exemple important, révélateur, du rôle de l’esthétique dans la redéfinition du champ intellectuel qui s’opère au cours du xixe siècle. Dans son Journal aussi bien que dans son œuvre historiographique proprement dite, l’esthétique tient une première place : peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure constituent pour lui des faits historiques, des éléments essentiels dans l’élaboration d’une histoire « universelle » qui comprendrait tous les aspects d’une ..

Parody and decadence: Laforgue's Moralités légendaires

(print) x, 275 p. ; 23 cmAcknowledgments ix -- 1 The Moralites legendaries and a Theory of Parody 1 -- Introduction 1 -- History and Theory 9 -- Features of Parodic Narrative 26 -- 2 Decadence and Parody 31 -- Aspects of Decadence 38 -- The Other Side of Decadence. Parody in the Late Nineteenth Century 61 -- 3 Hamlet, ou les suites de la pietefiliale 74 -- 4 Le Miracle des Roses 104 -- 5 Lohengrin, fils de Parsifal 128 -- 6 Salome 148 -- 7 Persee et Andromede, ou le plus heureux des trois 170 -- 8 Pan et la Syrinx, ou l'invention de la flute a sept tuyaux 194 -- Conclusion 216 -- Notes 223 -- Bibliography 257 -- Index 26

Design, fabricate and test a complete laboratory scale coal feeder injector system. Phase III. Final report, 30 April 1980

This report summarizes the results of the Phase III of the Coal Feeder Development Program carried out by Foster-Miller Associates, Inc., for the US Department of Energy. During Phase III development was continued on two feeder concepts which had demonstrated the most promise in Phase II. These included: the Linear Pocket Feeder (LPF) and the Centrifugal Feeder. As a part of the feeder development work, a new feeder test facility was developed with seven times the capacity of the test facilities used in the previous phase. The LPF prototype was subjected to a continuing cycle of test, evaluation, redesign, and retest. Total feeder operating time reached 345 h. Solutions to all reliability problems identified to date have been developed. Development of a second generation pilot scale prototype is recommended. The 200 lb/in/sup 2/ centrifugal feeder developed in Phase II was modified and used to develop design data for a second generation centrifugal feeder prototype. This prototype was designed to operate at backpressures to 500 psig and feed rates of 3 to 5 tons/h. Testing of the feeder was terminated after 6 weeks to conserve funds for the LPF development work. The 500 lb/in/sup 2/ feeder prototype represents a substantial advance over the very successful 200 lb/in/sup 2/ prototype, with 300 available horsepower (versus 40 hp for the older unit). All feeder and test components have been designed for operation to 1000 psig to facilitate development beyond the 500 psig goal. Continued development of this promising concept is recommended