
Gaslight
Lantern Slides from the Nineteenth Century
New York Review Books (Publisher)
Published on 6. June 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
172 pages
978-1-68137-118-4 (ISBN)
Description
A one-of-a-kind exploration of the 19th century that ties the time period to our own through essays on a variety of topics in music, film, literature, and art.
In Gaslight, Joachim Kalka delves into the mythos of the nineteenth century, exploring our fascination with its "auratic gaslight," its mingling of romanticism and modernity, enlightenment and darkness. Here we find the roots of our contemporary preoccupations: gender roles and sexuality, terrorism and technology, mad scientists and serial killers, kitsch and commodification. Mustering a wealth of cultural references, Kalka draws illuminating connections between Balzac and Billy Wilder, Mickey Mouse and the arms race, the cake fights of Laurel and Hardy and Madame Bovary's wedding cake. He brings the nineteenth century to life with all its contradictions, aspirations, and absurdities, inviting us to reexamine that era and our own, and the stories we tell ourselves about history.
In Gaslight, Joachim Kalka delves into the mythos of the nineteenth century, exploring our fascination with its "auratic gaslight," its mingling of romanticism and modernity, enlightenment and darkness. Here we find the roots of our contemporary preoccupations: gender roles and sexuality, terrorism and technology, mad scientists and serial killers, kitsch and commodification. Mustering a wealth of cultural references, Kalka draws illuminating connections between Balzac and Billy Wilder, Mickey Mouse and the arms race, the cake fights of Laurel and Hardy and Madame Bovary's wedding cake. He brings the nineteenth century to life with all its contradictions, aspirations, and absurdities, inviting us to reexamine that era and our own, and the stories we tell ourselves about history.
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 208 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
282 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-68137-118-4 (9781681371184)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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E-Book
06/2017
New York Review Books
€11.49
Available for download
Persons
Joachim Kalka, translated from the German by Isabel Fargo Cole