The Art of Civilization: A Bourgeois History PDF
Preview The Art of Civilization: A Bourgeois History
Didier Maleuvre The Art of Civilization A Bourgeois History The Art of Civilization Didier Maleuvre The Art of Civilization A Bourgeois History Didier Maleuvre Department of French and Italian University of California, Santa Barbara California, USA ISBN 978-1-349-94868-0 ISBN 978-1-349-94869-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-349-94869-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016943990 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York To Juan P REFACE Like any of its kind, this study is the offspring of other books, and the graveyard of many more—those it might have been but could or would not be. To do justice to its subject would warrant an encyclopedia and a lifetime endeavor—the competence and staying power for which I do not possess. Not that this book doesn’t chew its mouthful; it’s just that this mouthful is but a small cut of the banquet. Inescapably, studies such as this one bare themselves to the criticism that they are partial. I plead guilty on this count—with the implication that it is in the nature of a volume to be fi nite and therefore selective. If it deals with western civilization only, it is not for wanting to exclude the global east and the south. It is simply an admission of what its author can knowledgeably speak about in the scope of a slender volume. Limited on the inside, this study is expansive on the outside. Dealing with the uses of art, the book overfl ows the confi nes of art history. Though its whetstone be art, the sharpened object is our understanding of western mentalities. In a personal note, it will cost the reader nothing to suppose that the question regarding the idea of art’s civilizing force came to me because art has ‘civilized’ me, by which I mean in this instance that it has brought scope and refl ectiveness to my own life. Gratitude prompted the writing of this book, as well as a wish to connect with the gratitude of others—the many to whom art has shown that life is immeasurably more precious than art, and more precious still with art in it. Santa Barbara, CA D idier Maleuvre vii A CKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish, as always, to thank the colleagues of my academic department at the University of California for their intellectual generosity. My fond grati- tude especially to Jon Snyder for his editorial advice, to Colin Keaveney who pored over the manuscript when it wasn’t yet presentable, to Maarten Asscher for his conversation and introduction to the Dutch literary scene, to the University of Utrecht and its Department of Comparative Literature whose utter civility did so much to inspire this book. ix
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