Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing

The artist in quest for adequate modes of representation of excess not infrequently turns his hand to the historical novel, a genre overtly legitimising the imagination. But he cannot overlook the fact that addressing a specific past and calling upon collective memory also render his task as an illu...

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Main Author: Christine Huguet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2006-12-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/cve/12581
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author Christine Huguet
author_facet Christine Huguet
author_sort Christine Huguet
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description The artist in quest for adequate modes of representation of excess not infrequently turns his hand to the historical novel, a genre overtly legitimising the imagination. But he cannot overlook the fact that addressing a specific past and calling upon collective memory also render his task as an illusionist far more complicated. In Demos George Gissing meets the challenge and evinces keen awareness of the necessity both to accommodate the possibilities suggested by his material and to avoid being constrained by it, hence the deconstructive subtitle, « A Story of English Socialism », a clear warning of imaginative departure from mere factuality. This article examines Gissing’s metahistorical enquiry with a view to defining how far pliant historiographic de/reconstruction of unrest and agitation may facilitate the integration of the artist’s own excessive responses.
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spelling doaj.art-242452a497ba4567afb0cbe190cebed02023-10-03T10:40:13ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492006-12-016310.4000/cve.12581Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George GissingChristine HuguetThe artist in quest for adequate modes of representation of excess not infrequently turns his hand to the historical novel, a genre overtly legitimising the imagination. But he cannot overlook the fact that addressing a specific past and calling upon collective memory also render his task as an illusionist far more complicated. In Demos George Gissing meets the challenge and evinces keen awareness of the necessity both to accommodate the possibilities suggested by his material and to avoid being constrained by it, hence the deconstructive subtitle, « A Story of English Socialism », a clear warning of imaginative departure from mere factuality. This article examines Gissing’s metahistorical enquiry with a view to defining how far pliant historiographic de/reconstruction of unrest and agitation may facilitate the integration of the artist’s own excessive responses.http://journals.openedition.org/cve/12581
spellingShingle Christine Huguet
Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
title Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing
title_full Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing
title_fullStr Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing
title_full_unstemmed Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing
title_short Art et histoire : l’excès dans Demos de George Gissing
title_sort art et histoire l exces dans demos de george gissing
url http://journals.openedition.org/cve/12581
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