Cora Zoltán: Aesthetic aspects of the gothic revival : an essay in the history of culture. In: Papers in English and American studies : Tomus XXII. - Distinguished Szeged student papers, (22). pp. 69-129. (2012)
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Abstract
As a cultural process of the 18th and 19th century, Gothic Revival manifested itself in literature, aesthetics, politics and arts. This denotes a wide scope of field, therefore, in this paper I will deal with the expansion of Gothic semantics throughout the periods of Survival and Revival of Gothic, focusing on its aesthetical aspects. I will also examine what kind of framework architecture could offer to this widening semantics. First of all, the concept of Gothic within Renaissance theory of architecture will be defined in order to understand how and why Gothic style survived in England in the 17th century. The Survival enabled Gothic to be revived by a legitimization of a political theory which offered historical associations that went along with aesthetical changes of the 18th century. These developments led to the first Gothic Revival in landscape parks and ruins within the fields of domestic architecture. The trend of increasing application of Gothic designs was further developed by antiquarianism and literary criticism that necessitated a republication and reinterpretation of medieval literature. Literary inquisition brought about the emergence of the Gothic Novel and subsequently the Romantic Movement which created a new identity on the basis of individual imagination. This former process initiated a more elaborate search for deeper semantics, periodization and historiography of Gothic. Romantic historicism resulted in an establishment of new aesthetical paradigms, such as picturesque and sublime, which found their expressions in Monastic and Castellar Gothic. The Revival also involved church restorations and buildings that was accompanied by an accentuated theorizing of the unity of ethics, aesthetics and architecture of the style. Though the religious movement of the Ecclesiology failed, A. W. Pugin managed to develop a system of Gothic theory. Besides the theoretical trend, social and economic changes of necessity required the adoptions of more practical stylistic variations of Gothic as well. Finally, after the mental and material appreciation of Gothic exceeded, in my view, a certain level in the national consciousness and as an academic style, it could overcome the Neoclassical aesthetic priorities that was expressed in the par excellence Revival building, the Houses of Parliament. After discussing these phenomena and cultural processes, an own interpretation of the Gothic semantics will be offered.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Other title: | Distinguished Szeged student papers |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Papers in English and American studies : Tomus XXII. - Distinguished Szeged student papers |
| Date: | 2012 |
| Volume: | 22 |
| ISSN: | 0230-2780 |
| ISBN: | 978-963-482-991-1 |
| Page Range: | pp. 69-129 |
| Series Name: | Acta Universitatis Szegediensis de Attila József nominatae : papers in english and american studies |
| Language: | English |
| Related URLs: | https://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/68587/ |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Gótika, Művelődéstörténet - Anglia - 17-19. sz. |
| Additional Information: | Bibliogr.: 111. p. és a lábjegyzetekben ; ill. ; összefoglalás angol nyelven |
| Subjects: | 06. Humanities 06. Humanities > 06.02. Languages and Literature |
| Date Deposited: | 2025. Jan. 21. 14:04 |
| Last Modified: | 2025. Jan. 24. 11:20 |
| URI: | http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/id/eprint/68853 |
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