The Fin-De-Siècle World

785 Pages·2015·8.679 MB·English

by  Michael Saler

THE FIN-DE-SIÈCLE WORLD
This comprehensive, beautifully illustrated collection of essays conveys a vivid
picture of a fascinating period in history, the fi n de siècle. Featuring contributions
from nearly fi fty international scholars, this book takes a thematic approach to a
period of huge upheaval across all walks of life and is truly innovative in examining
the fi n de siècle from a global perspective. The volume includes pathbreaking essays
on how the period was experienced not only in Europe and North America, but also
in China, Japan, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, India, and elsewhere across
the globe.
Thematic topics covered include new concepts of time and space, globalization,
the city, and new political movements including nationalism, the “New Liberalism,”
socialism and communism. The volume also looks at the development of mass
media over this period and emerging trends in culture, such as advertising and
consumption, fi lm and publishing, as well as the technological and scientifi c changes
that shaped the world at the turn of the nineteenth century, such as novel forms of
telecommunications, new transport systems, and developments in the natural and
human sciences. The Fin-de-Siècle World also considers issues such as selfhood
through chapters looking at gender, sexuality, race, and class, and considers the
importance of different religions, both old and new, at the turn of the century.
Finally the volume examines signifi cant and emerging trends in art, music, and
literature, including realism, children’s literature, fantasy, science fi ction, the
supernatural, symbolism, and aestheticism.
This volume conveys a vivid picture of how politics, religion, “mass” and “elite”
cultures, social practices, and scientifi c endeavors fi tted together in an exciting world
of change. It will be invaluable reading for all students and scholars of the fi n-de-
siècle period.
Michael Saler is Professor of History at the University of California at Davis. His
publications include As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of
Virtual Reality (Oxford, 2012); The Avant-Garde in Interwar England: ‘Medieval
Modernism’ and the London Underground (Oxford, 1999), and editor, with Joshua
Landy, of The Re-Enchantment of the World: Secular Magic in a Rational Age
(Stanford, 2009).
THE ROUTLEDGE WORLDS
THE REFORMATION WORLD
Edited by Andrew Pettegree
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
Edited by Peter Linehan, Janet L. Nelson
THE BYZANTINE WORLD
Edited by Paul Stephenson
THE VIKING WORLD
Edited by Stefan Brink in collaboration with Neil Price
THE BABYLONIAN WORLD
Edited by Gwendolyn Leick
THE EGYPTIAN WORLD
Edited by Toby Wilkinson
THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Edited by Andrew Rippin
THE WORLD OF POMPEII
Edited by Pedar W. Foss and John J. Dobbins
THE RENAISSANCE WORLD
Edited by John Jeffries Martin
THE EARLY CHRISTIAN WORLD
Edited by Philip F. Esler
THE GREEK WORLD
Edited by Anton Powell
THE ROMAN WORLD
Edited by John Wacher
THE HINDU WORLD
Edited by Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby
THE WORLD OF THE AMERICAN WEST
Edited by Gordon Morris Bakken
THE OTTOMAN WORLD
Edited by Christine Woodhead
THE VICTORIAN WORLD
Edited by Martin Hewitt
THE ETRUSCAN WORLD
Edited by Jean MacIntosh Turfa
THE SUMERIAN WORLD
Edited by Harriet Crawford
THE ELIZABETHAN WORLD
Edited by Susan Doran and Norman Jones
THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WORLD
Edited by Augustine Casiday
THE WORLD OF INDIGENOUS NORTH AMERICA
Edited by Robert Warrior
THE WORLD OF THE REVOLUTIONARY AMERICAN REPUBLIC
Edited by Andrew Shankman
Forthcoming:
THE MORMON WORLD
Edited by Carl Mosser, Richard Sherlock
THE ATLANTIC WORLD
Edited by D’Maris Coffman, Adrian Leonard and William O’Reilly
T H E
F I N - D E - S I È C L E
W O R L D
Edited by
Michael Saler
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Michael Saler for selection and editorial matter; individual
contributions, the contributors
The right of Michael Saler to be identifi ed as the author of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The fi n-de-siècle world / edited by Michael Saler.
pages cm. — (Routledge worlds)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Nineteenth century. 2. Civilization, Modern–19th century.
3. History, Modern–19th century. I. Saler, Michael T., 1960– editor of
compilation.
CB415.F563 2014
909.81—dc23
2014021725
ISBN: 978-0-415-67413-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74811-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
To Benson, Joyce, Chun, Erin, and Omar
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
List of illustrations xi
List of maps xiv
Notes on contributors xv
Introduction 1
Michael Saler
PART I: OVERVIEWS 9
1 Global literatures of Decadence 11
Regenia Gagnier
2 The city and urban life 29
Peter Fritzsche
3 The second industrial revolution 45
Andreas Killen
4 The modernity of the fi n de siècle 59
John Jervis
5 Changing concepts and experiences of time and space 74
Stephen Kern
PART II: PLACES 91
6 France 93
Mark S. Micale
vii
— Contents —
7 Britain 117
Nicholas Daly
8 Central Europe 131
Suzanne Marchand
9 Russia 150
Olga Matich
10 Italy 167
Walter Adamson
11 Spain 185
Lara Anderson
12 The United States 198
Richard Cándida Smith
13 Canada 213
D. M. R. Bentley
14 Latin America 226
Adela Pineda Franco
15 Did China have a fi n de siècle? 238
Maura Dykstra and Jeffrey Wasserstrom
16 Japan 254
Selçuk Esenbel
17 The Middle East 266
Jens Hanssen
18 India 283
Ruth Vanita
19 Africa 300
Rebecca Saunders
PART III: POLITICS IN A NEW KEY 321
20 The new nationalism 323
Timothy Baycroft
21 The New Imperialism 335
Sascha Auerbach
22 The New Politics of ‘Higher Individualism’ 351
Chris Nottingham
viii
— Contents —
PART IV: MASS CULTURE 365
23 Publishing 367
Christopher Hilliard
24 Transports of speed 380
Andrew Denning
25 Consumer culture and advertising 392
H. Hazel Hahn
PART V: DISCIPLINES 409
26 The universities and the human sciences 411
Peter Mandler
27 Philosophy 424
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen
28 The “new physics” 441
Helge Kragh
29 Biology and eugenics 456
Marius Turda
30 Psychology and psychiatry 471
Eric Shiraev
31 Medicine 487
Andrew Smith
PART VI: SELFHOOD 501
32 Gender and sexuality 503
Ann Heilmann and Mark Llewellyn
33 Race and ethnicity 518
Laura Tabili
PART VII: RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 535
34 Secularism/atheism/agnosticism 537
Vincent P. Pecora
35 The Jewish fi n de siècle 554
Olga Litvak
36 Christianity 568
Vincent Lloyd
ix