The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity
The poetic and pictorial works of the “Pre-Raphaelite galaxy”, as one might call the group formed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and their artistic kindred, exhibit an ambiguous relationship to Victorian modernity and 19th-century technical and political “progress”, espec...
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| Τόπος έκδοσης: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles, |
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| Κύριος συγγραφέας: | |
| Μορφή: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Γλώσσα: | Anglais |
| Έκδοση: |
Angles
2023
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| Θέματα: | |
| Διαθέσιμο Online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_6013 |
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| record_format |
openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
Rossetti Christina Rossetti Dante Gabriel Scott William Bell Préraphaélitisme altermodernité poésie politique Rossetti Christina Rossetti Dante Gabriel Scott William Bell Pre-Raphaelitism altermodernity political poetry |
| spellingShingle |
Rossetti Christina Rossetti Dante Gabriel Scott William Bell Préraphaélitisme altermodernité poésie politique Rossetti Christina Rossetti Dante Gabriel Scott William Bell Pre-Raphaelitism altermodernity political poetry Rigal, Raphaël The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| description |
The poetic and pictorial works of the “Pre-Raphaelite galaxy”, as one might call the group formed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and their artistic kindred, exhibit an ambiguous relationship to Victorian modernity and 19th-century technical and political “progress”, especially British urbanisation. As urban-living people, the Pre-Raphaelites were always in direct contact with the modern city and its evolutions, and if the urban context is not their one major topic, the paintings and poems that come to grasp with it from the late 1840s onward are the strongest proponents of what could be called an alter-modern philosophy: the acceptance of some aspects of modern society, combined with the rejection of its dehumanizing and alienating excesses, to form a via media, an alternative to untamed Progress and unchecked urbanisation. The return to Nature they advocate is not just a nostalgic look backwards, but a real way of life based on simplicity, common decency, and the equality of all mankind – a vision which comes to life in the 1880s in William Morris’s socialist pamphlets and proposals for a new city. We shall base our demonstration on a set of four poems: Christina Rossetti’s “The Dead City” (1840) and “Goblin Market” (1862), Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “Jenny” (1848-1869), and William Bell Scott’s “Maryanne” (1854), and compare them with D. G. Rossetti’s painting The Gate of Memory (1857-1864) and some of William Morris’s essays. This corpus constitutes an ensemble of works answering one another, and openly attacking the alienating artificiality of the modern world and its consequences.This paper will successively focus on three aspects of the Pre-Raphaelite relationship to the modern city. The first aspect is its representation: the city is a fatal beauty which seduces and corrupts, winds its network around the characters, and whose façades hide only death. This criticism opens the way to an attack against urban modernity, characterised by unnatural excess and human alienation. Beings are reified and despised, used and abused, and finally lost in a haze that separates them from any source of meaning – all this the fruit of a capitalist vision of the world. After this criticism comes a proposal: a return to what is the essential part of humanity. The definition of this “human essence” may vary depending on the author, but always centres on intimate knowledge of oneself, God, or others. The modern city is not absolute evil: even its corruption is a thing of beauty. But it is only a half-drawn canvas that the Pre-Raphaelite project tries to achieve, by opening the way for humanity to realize its full potential. |
| author |
Rigal, Raphaël |
| author_facet |
Rigal, Raphaël |
| author_sort |
Rigal, Raphaël |
| title |
The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| title_short |
The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| title_full |
The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| title_fullStr |
The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| title_sort |
pre-raphaelite city and the trap of modernity |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2023 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.6013 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/6013 |
| _version_ |
1877292929517617152 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_6013 https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.6013 urn:doi:10.4000/angles.6013 en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/6013 2023-01-11T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/9n26 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Pre-Raphaelite city and the trap of modernity Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Rigal, Raphaël Rossetti Christina Rossetti Dante Gabriel Scott William Bell Préraphaélitisme altermodernité poésie politique Rossetti Christina Rossetti Dante Gabriel Scott William Bell Pre-Raphaelitism altermodernity political poetry The poetic and pictorial works of the “Pre-Raphaelite galaxy”, as one might call the group formed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and their artistic kindred, exhibit an ambiguous relationship to Victorian modernity and 19th-century technical and political “progress”, especially British urbanisation. As urban-living people, the Pre-Raphaelites were always in direct contact with the modern city and its evolutions, and if the urban context is not their one major topic, the paintings and poems that come to grasp with it from the late 1840s onward are the strongest proponents of what could be called an alter-modern philosophy: the acceptance of some aspects of modern society, combined with the rejection of its dehumanizing and alienating excesses, to form a via media, an alternative to untamed Progress and unchecked urbanisation. The return to Nature they advocate is not just a nostalgic look backwards, but a real way of life based on simplicity, common decency, and the equality of all mankind – a vision which comes to life in the 1880s in William Morris’s socialist pamphlets and proposals for a new city. We shall base our demonstration on a set of four poems: Christina Rossetti’s “The Dead City” (1840) and “Goblin Market” (1862), Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “Jenny” (1848-1869), and William Bell Scott’s “Maryanne” (1854), and compare them with D. G. Rossetti’s painting The Gate of Memory (1857-1864) and some of William Morris’s essays. This corpus constitutes an ensemble of works answering one another, and openly attacking the alienating artificiality of the modern world and its consequences.This paper will successively focus on three aspects of the Pre-Raphaelite relationship to the modern city. The first aspect is its representation: the city is a fatal beauty which seduces and corrupts, winds its network around the characters, and whose façades hide only death. This criticism opens the way to an attack against urban modernity, characterised by unnatural excess and human alienation. Beings are reified and despised, used and abused, and finally lost in a haze that separates them from any source of meaning – all this the fruit of a capitalist vision of the world. After this criticism comes a proposal: a return to what is the essential part of humanity. The definition of this “human essence” may vary depending on the author, but always centres on intimate knowledge of oneself, God, or others. The modern city is not absolute evil: even its corruption is a thing of beauty. But it is only a half-drawn canvas that the Pre-Raphaelite project tries to achieve, by opening the way for humanity to realize its full potential. Les œuvres poétiques et picturales de la « galaxie préraphaélite », comme l’on pourrait appeler le groupe formé par Dante Gabriel Rossetti, la Confrérie Préraphaélite, et leurs proches, laissent voir une relation ambiguë à la modernité victorienne et au « progrès » technique et politique de l’époque, notamment l’urbanisation des Îles Britanniques. Majoritairement citadins, les Préraphaélites ont toujours été au contact direct de la ville moderne et de ses évolutions, et si le milieu urbain ne constitue pas leur sujet de prédilection, les peintures et poèmes qu’ils ont produits à partir des années 1840 et qui abordent ce sujet sont parmi les exemples les plus éclatants d’une philosophie altermoderne : cette approche mêle l’acceptation de certains aspects de la modernité, et le rejet de ses excès déshumanisants et aliénants pour former une via media, une alternative au Progrès et à l’industrialisation incontrôlés. Le retour à la Nature dont ils montrent la voie n’est pas seulement un regard passéiste et nostalgique, mais un véritable mode de vie, fondé sur la simplicité, la décence ordinaire, et l’égalité humaine, et dont William Morris, par ses pamphlets socialistes et ses propositions concrètes pour une ville nouvelle, se fit le chantre dans les années 1880. Ma démonstration s’appuiera sur un choix de quatre poèmes : « The Dead City » (1840) et « Goblin Market » (1862) de Christina Rossetti, « Jenny » (1848-1869) de Dante Gabriel Rossetti, et « Maryanne » (1854) de William Bell Scott, mis en relation avec le tableau The Gate of Memory (1857-1864) de D. G. Rossetti et certains essais de William Morris. Ce corpus constitue un ensemble dont les éléments se répondent et attaquent ouvertement l’artificialité aliénante du monde moderne et ses conséquences. Cet article examinera tour à tour trois aspects de la relation des Préraphaélites à la ville moderne. Le premier est sa représentation : la ville est une beauté fatale, séductrice et corruptrice, dont les rets se resserrent autour des personnages et dont les façades ne cachent que la mort. Cette critique ouvre la voie à une attaque contre la modernité urbaine caractérisée par un excès contre-nature et l’aliénation de l’homme. Les êtres y sont réifiés, méprisés, utilisés, trompés, et enfin se perdent dans un brouillard qui les éloigne de toute source de sens, dans le triomphe du capitalisme moderne. Après cette critique vient une proposition : un retour à ce qui fait l’essence de l’humanité. La définition de cette « essence humaine » varie selon les auteurs ; mais elle se centre toujours sur une connaissance intime de soi, du divin, ou des autres. La ville moderne n’est pas le mal absolu : même sa corruption peut créer la beauté. Mais c’est une ébauche, que le projet préraphaélite se propose de compléter, en permettant à l’humanité de développer son potentiel. |