9781108428552

110842855X

"The late nineteenth century saw a re-examination of artistic creativity in response to questions surrounding the relation between human beings and automata. These questions arose from findings in the 'new psychology', physiological research that diminished the primacy of mind and viewed human action as neurological and systemic. Concentrating on British and continental culture from 1870 to 1911, this unusual study explores ways in which the idea of automatism helped shape ballet, art photography, literature, and professional writing. Drawing on documents including novels and travel essays, Linda M. Austin finds a link between efforts to establish standards of artistic practice and challenges to the idea of human exceptionalism. Austin presents each artistic discipline as an example of the same process: creation that should be intended, but involving actions that evade mental control. This study considers how late nineteenth-century literature and arts tackled the scientific question, 'Are we automata?'"-- Provided by publisher.

"The late nineteenth century saw a re-examination of artistic creativity in response to questions surrounding the relation between human beings and automata. These questions arose from findings in the "new psychology," physiological research that diminished the primacy of mind and viewed human action as neurological and systemic. Concentrating on British and continental culture from 1870 to 1911, this unusual study explores ways in which idea of automatism helped shaped ballet, art photography, literature, and professional writing. Drawing on documents including novels and travel essays, Linda Austin finds a link between efforts to establish standards of artistic practice and challenges to the idea of human exceptionalism. Austin presents each artistic discipline as an example of the same process: creation that should be intended, but involving actions that evade mental control. This study considers how late nineteenth-century literature and arts tackled the scientific question, 'Are we automata?'"-- Provided by publisher.

Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ; 111

Introduction: the nineteenth-century debate over human automatisms

Part I. Automata-phobia. J.S. Mill: genius-automaton ; Automatic aesthetics and the shame of tourism

Part II. Technologies of the automatic: process and movement. Photography's automatisms ; Automatic writing and physiologies of creativity ; The automata ballets.

Arts, British > 19th century.

Arts, British > 20th century.

Automatism (Art movement) > Great Britain.

Arts, European > 19th century.

Arts, European > 20th century.

Automatism (Art movement) > Europe.