Shadows of Events
A new approach to the politics of aestheticism
Framing its inquiry both historically and theoretically, Shadows of Events offers the first full account of the unusual but strikingly original ways that the British aesthetic movement responded to contemporary politics. Although the aesthetes were rarely noted for their concern with politics—indeed, a disdain for sordid worldly things was essential to their artistic identity—Matthew Potolsky demonstrates just how important depictions of protests, urban mobs, riots, revolutions, and nationalist uprisings were to their work. Examining poems, plays, critical prose, novels, and short stories by well-known writers such as Oscar Wilde, Walter Pater, and Michael Field, and tracing their influence on later writers such as Sarojini Naidu and W.B. Yeats, Shadows of Events encompasses a momentous historical span stretching from the 1848 Revolutions to the dawn of the twentieth century. Potolsky argues that these writers developed a set of innovative techniques to understand and process political events. Treating politics as a work of art, he shows, offered them new means for coming to terms with the turbulence of their times.
- Alex Murray, Queen's University Belfast, author of Decadent Conservatism: Aesthetics, Politics, and the PastA wide-ranging, incisive, original book and the most detailed and expansive analysis of the politics of aestheticism to date. There is much to admire in the way it marshals its archive and undertakes its close readings. It is eminently readable, managing to balance clarity of thought and expression with conceptual sophistication and rigor—a model of how to write academic prose. Shadows of Events substantially re-draws the lines of debate and will be a touchstone for scholars moving forward.
- Rachel Teukolsky, Vanderbilt University, author of Picture World: Image, Aesthetics, and Victorian New MediaPotolsky’s book reveals an entirely new understanding of the politics of aestheticism. It is written in beautiful, lucid prose—a joy to read—and the analysis and argument are intelligent and original. It models brilliant close readings of poems, as well as profound engagements with political theory. Potolsky brings to light understudied texts that transform our understanding of the Aesthetic movement and its modes of operation. Given what might be considered a 'political turn' in humanities thought more broadly today, Shadows of Events is a timely contribution.
Matthew Potolsky is Professor of English at the University of Utah and the author of The Decadent Republic of Letters: Taste, Politics, and Cosmopolitan Community from Baudelaire to Beardsley.
