Aestheticism and Sexual Parody 1840-1940

by Dennis Denisoff

Overview

Aestheticism and Sexual Parody adds a new and important dimension to the concept of parody as a combative strategy by which sexually marginalized groups undermine the status quo. From W. S. Gilbert's drama, and Vernon Lee and Christopher Isherwood's prose to George Du Maurier's cartoons and Max Beerbohm's caricatures, Dennis Denisoff explores the interactions of late nineteenth and twentieth century parody and aestheticism with the texts of canonical authors such as Alfred Tennyson, Walter Pater, Algernon Swinburne, and Oscar Wilde.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521024891
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/16/2006
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture , #31
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Dennis Denisoff is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Ryerson Polytechnic University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Alfred Tennyson and the critical sexualization of Aestheticism; 2. The leering creatures of W. H. Mallock and Vernon Lee; 3. Gigolo economics: W. S. Gilbert and the market value of parodic promiscuity; 4. 'Men of my own sex': genius, sexuality, and George du Maurier's artists; 5. Epistemological misfiring in the aestheticist camp of Ada Leverson and Robert Hichens; 6. Max Beerbohm, Christopher Isherwood, and Camp Homage; Epilogue; Notes; Works cites; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...it offer[s] an important interpretation of the data...This complex working of 'high' and 'low' cultures to widen social sympathies is an original contribution to our understanding of aesthetics." English Literature in Transition

From the Publisher