Proust's famous novel A la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past) is a fascinating exploration not only of memory and desire, of high society and everyday life, but also of art. The study focuses on Venice, one of the hero's central obsessions, and shows how a whole network of allusions to art (from Titian to Turner, from Ruskin to Emile Male, from Giotto to Bellini, from Byzantine mosaic to the dresses designed by Fortuny after paintings by Carpaccio) ties in with the hero's quest for self-knowledge and self-fulfilment. Peter Collier demonstrates how an understanding of the writer's artistic sources and reworkings can shed light both on Proust's complex prose style and on the aesthetic theory proposed by his novel. Most importantly, Venice and Italian art provide a new key to the central themes of the novel: memory and desire.
- ISBN13 9780521673389
- Publish Date 30 June 2005 (first published 26 October 1989)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 196
- Language English