106-432 Decadence

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Subject Description:

This subject examines the ramifications of 'decadence' as a cultural category, focusing on turn-of-the-century literary production from the theoretical perspectives of the 1990s. Topics include literary affinities with French decadence, theories of cultural pessimism and psychopathological degeneracy, and the fascination with femmes fatales and transgressive sexualities. Students who complete this subject successfully will have acquired a first hand acquaintance with significant examples of 'decadent' writing; an understanding of the controversies provoked by the original publication of 'decadent' writing and later re-consideration of it; an understanding of 'decadence' as both a stylistic and period concept in literary history.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

• K Beckson ed, Aesthetes and Decadents of the 1890s, Academy Chi Pubs.
• J-K Huysmans, Against Nature, Penguin.
• T Mann, Death in Venice, Norton.
• M Nordau (intro Mosse), Degeneration, Nebraska UP.
• Sacher-Masoch, Venus in Furs, Blast.
• R L Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Penguin.
• H G Wells, The Time Machine, Heinemann.
• J M Whistler, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, Dover.
• O Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Penguin.