Spoiled distinctions : aesthetics and the ordinary in French modernism / Hannah Freed-Thall.
| Author/creator | Freed-Thall, Hannah author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York : Oxford University Press, [2015] |
| Description | viii, 209 pages ; 25 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction -- Part 1: Aesthetic disorientation in Proust. -- Prestige -- Babble -- Nuance -- Part 2: Mid-century experiments. -- Profanation in Ponge -- Sarraute's bad taste -- Afterword. |
| Abstract | Spoiled Distinctions investigates crises of evaluation in twentieth-century France. Taking Marcel Proust as its central figure, the book theorizes the disorienting force of everyday aesthetic experience. In a series of surprising readings, Hannah Freed-Thall frees Proust from his reputation as the most refined of high modernists. The author of In Search of Lost Time appears here as a journalist and newspaper enthusiast, a literary ventriloquist and connoisseur of popular scandals, and a writer attentive to the unsophisticated phenomenology of the here and now. The final chapters of the book consider the legacy of Proust's experiments with inestimable worth. Authors Francis Ponge, Nathalie Sarraute, and Yasmina Reza also explore the underside of cultural distinction. With Proust, they elaborate modernist variations on the beautiful and sublime{u2014}from nuance to the "whatever" and from the awkward to the sickly-sweet. Spoiled Distinctions thus revitalizes the critical discourse on aesthetics. Mapping the intersection of phenomenology, aesthetic theory, and the sociology of culture, the book reveals how enchanting the ordinary can be. -- From publisher's website. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-201) and index. |
| Language | Text in English including passages in French with English translations. |
| Genre/form | Criticism, interpretation, etc. |
| LCCN | 2015001732 |
| ISBN | 9780190201029 (cloth) |
| ISBN | 0190201029 (cloth) |
| ISBN | (updf) |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | PQ307 .M63 F74 2015 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |