The Influence of Japonisme on Nineteenth-Century French Writers

FAIN: FA-51902-05

Pamela Antonia Genova
University of Oklahoma, Norman (Norman, OK 73019-3003)

My book presents an interdisciplinary study of 'Japonisme' in the prose of four French authors from the 1800s: de Goncourt, Zola, Huysmans, and Mallarmé. Defined as the presence of techniques, styles, and motifs of Japanese art in nineteenth-century French painting, 'Japonisme' actually surpasses the boundaries of the visual, as writers also adapt these elements from painting to prose. I introduce a theoretical notion, 'aesthetic translation,' the process of writers integrating principles of painting, while I address issues of cultural communication implied in the reading of Eastern arts by representatives of the West. 'Japonisme' is essential in the development of French art, inviting aesthetic experimentation and foreshadowing Modernism.

Associated Products

Writing Japonisme: Aesthetic Translation in 19th-century French Prose (Book)
Title: Writing Japonisme: Aesthetic Translation in 19th-century French Prose
Author: Pamela A. Genova
Editor: Henry Carrigan
Abstract: My book presents an interdisciplinary study of 'Japonisme' in the prose of four French authors from the 1800s: de Goncourt, Zola, Huysmans, and Mallarme. Defined as the presence of techniques, styles, and motifs of Japanese art in nineteenth-century French painting, 'Japonisme' actually surpasses the boundaries of the visual, as writers also adapt these elements from painting to writing. I introduce a theoretical notion, 'aesthetic translation,' the process of writers adapting principles of visual art, while I address issues of cultural communication implied in the reading of Eastern arts by representatives of the West. 'Japonisme' is essential in the development of French art, inviting aesthetic experimentation and foreshadowing Modernism.
Year: 2016
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/writing-japonisme-aesthetic-translation-in-nineteenth-century-french-prose/oclc/908991433&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780810132191

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