Symbolism and Modern Urban Society is the first social history of the Symbolist movement. Sharon Hirsh adopts a variety of methods, including gender theory, biography, visual analysis, and medical and literary history, in order to investigate this esoteric movement and ground it firmly in fin-de-siecle issues of modernity and the metropolis. Hirsh argues that Symbolism, often associated with notions of individualism, nostalgia, and visual reverie, offers an engaging critique of urbanity. Providing new definitions and theories for Symbolism and Decadence, she also addresses issues such as spatial/street confrontations with the crowd, the diseased city, the New Woman as 'should-be-mother', as well as the ideal city of Bruges and its social upheaval in the 1890s. Focusing on works by artists such as Van Gogh, Munch and Ensor, Hirsh also considers the works of artists who contributed in important ways to the Symbolist movement and the cities in which they worked.
- ISBN13 9780521009362
- Publish Date 31 July 2004
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 375
- Language English