"Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907
<p>This thesis explores how selected "decadent-dandyist" writers of late 19<sup>th</sup> century France at once exemplify and subvert the self's act of shaping and imprinting its own selfhood upon the world: a model in which an autonomous, discrete artist-self freely...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2017
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| _version_ | 1826316596181729280 |
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| author | Burton, T |
| author2 | Zachhuber, J |
| author_facet | Zachhuber, J Burton, T |
| author_sort | Burton, T |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>This thesis explores how selected "decadent-dandyist" writers of late 19<sup>th</sup> century France at once exemplify and subvert the self's act of shaping and imprinting its own selfhood upon the world: a model in which an autonomous, discrete artist-self freely creates, and in which both reader/audience and artistic "subjects" are treated as raw canvas and denied agency of their own. Storytellers like Barbey D'Aurevilly, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, J. K. Huysmans, and Remy de Gourmont create not only hyper-artificial, cloistered, "auto-telic" (to use Charles Taylor's term) textual worlds (e.g. Huysmans' <em>theïbade raffinée</em>) but also hyper-artificial <em>selves</em>: presenting themselves and their often autobiographical protagonists as dandy-artists for whom artistic creation is an extension of self-creation.</p> <p>Central to this thesis is the 19<sup>th</sup> century figure of the dandy – he who, to quote D'Aurevilly, "[causes] surprise in others, and [has] the proud satisfaction of never showing any oneself." Appropriating the divine power of self-fashioning, the dandy transforms the chaos of existence into a clear narrative over which he alone exerts control, denying that he himself is subject to the control of the world.</p> <p>In my thesis, I first explore the cultural and economic roots of this understanding of the autonomous dandyist-artist in the light of wider tensions in 19<sup>th</sup> century Paris. I then explore selected "decadent-dandyist" texts through close reading, focusing on the theological implications of our authors’ treatment of narrative, character, setting, and language: showing how our writers cast doubt on both the possibility and morality "autonomous" creation on theological grounds. Finally, I ask how constructive theologians might learn from our authors’ condemnation of "dandyist" storytelling to create a new Christian aesthetics for the novel: proposing elements of an alternate, "kenotic" novel, in which self-projection gives way to "self-giving", a model based not on power and ego but rather on love.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:52:14Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:4bb3da1e-a2f8-40bf-ba9c-c960ebf6976c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:47:52Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:4bb3da1e-a2f8-40bf-ba9c-c960ebf6976c2024-12-08T10:41:30Z"Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907Thesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:4bb3da1e-a2f8-40bf-ba9c-c960ebf6976ctheologyFrench LiteratureEnglishORA Deposit2017Burton, TZachhuber, JMcGuinness, P<p>This thesis explores how selected "decadent-dandyist" writers of late 19<sup>th</sup> century France at once exemplify and subvert the self's act of shaping and imprinting its own selfhood upon the world: a model in which an autonomous, discrete artist-self freely creates, and in which both reader/audience and artistic "subjects" are treated as raw canvas and denied agency of their own. Storytellers like Barbey D'Aurevilly, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, J. K. Huysmans, and Remy de Gourmont create not only hyper-artificial, cloistered, "auto-telic" (to use Charles Taylor's term) textual worlds (e.g. Huysmans' <em>theïbade raffinée</em>) but also hyper-artificial <em>selves</em>: presenting themselves and their often autobiographical protagonists as dandy-artists for whom artistic creation is an extension of self-creation.</p> <p>Central to this thesis is the 19<sup>th</sup> century figure of the dandy – he who, to quote D'Aurevilly, "[causes] surprise in others, and [has] the proud satisfaction of never showing any oneself." Appropriating the divine power of self-fashioning, the dandy transforms the chaos of existence into a clear narrative over which he alone exerts control, denying that he himself is subject to the control of the world.</p> <p>In my thesis, I first explore the cultural and economic roots of this understanding of the autonomous dandyist-artist in the light of wider tensions in 19<sup>th</sup> century Paris. I then explore selected "decadent-dandyist" texts through close reading, focusing on the theological implications of our authors’ treatment of narrative, character, setting, and language: showing how our writers cast doubt on both the possibility and morality "autonomous" creation on theological grounds. Finally, I ask how constructive theologians might learn from our authors’ condemnation of "dandyist" storytelling to create a new Christian aesthetics for the novel: proposing elements of an alternate, "kenotic" novel, in which self-projection gives way to "self-giving", a model based not on power and ego but rather on love.</p> |
| spellingShingle | theology French Literature Burton, T "Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907 |
| title | "Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907 |
| title_full | "Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907 |
| title_fullStr | "Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907 |
| title_full_unstemmed | "Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907 |
| title_short | "Narrative dandyism": the theology of creation in the French decadent-dandyist novel 1845-1907 |
| title_sort | narrative dandyism the theology of creation in the french decadent dandyist novel 1845 1907 |
| topic | theology French Literature |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT burtont narrativedandyismthetheologyofcreationinthefrenchdecadentdandyistnovel18451907 |