This course continues exploring the development and representations of the modern self in its European cultural expressions, primarily focusing on art, philosophy and literary texts from the Enlightenment to early developments in Romanticism. We will examine the artist’s role as political actor in the French Revolution, the Romantic reaction to the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason as evidenced in the rise of sensibility in literature and art, and the championing of emotion as a more authentic expression of the self. We will also examine the impact of biographical analysis on the appreciation of women’s art, the development of ethnic and racial taxonomies in visual culture, and the role of self-representation in Western and non-Western cultures.
