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The Dream of Absolutism
Louis XIV and the Logic of Modernity
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The Dream of Absolutism
$6299
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
The Dream of Absolutism examines the political aesthetics of power under Louis XIV.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
The Dream of Absolutism examines the political aesthetics of power under Louis XIV.
What was absolutism, and how did it work? What was the function of the ostentatious display surrounding Louis XIV at Versailles? What is gained—and what is lost—by approaching such expressions of absolutism as propaganda, as present-day scholars tend to do?
In this sweeping reconsideration of absolutist culture, Hall Bjørnstad argues that the exuberance of Louis XIV’s reign was not top-down propaganda in any modern sense, but rather a dream dreamt collectively, by king, court, image-makers, and nation alike. Bjørnstad explores this dream through a sustained close analysis of a corpus of absolutist artifacts, ranging from Charles Le Brun’s famous paintings in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles via the king’s secret Mémoires to two little-known particularly extravagant verbal and textual celebrations of the king.
The dream of absolutism, Bjørnstad concludes, lives at the intersection of politics and aesthetics. It is the carrier of a force that emerges as a glorious image; a participatory emotional reality that requires reality to conform to it. It is a dream, finally, that still shapes our collective political imaginary today.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Dream of Absolutism by Hall Bjørnstad is praised for its innovative and incisive exploration of seventeenth-century French political aesthetics, challenging traditional scholarly consensus. Critics highlight the book's success in illustrating absolutism as a collectively dreamt culture, which contributes to an understanding of monarchical representation beyond ideological constraints. Through a vivid analysis of texts and images, Bjørnstad examines the persistent allure and underlying irrationalities of absolutism, offering insights relevant to both historical and modern contexts.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780226803838
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 15 October 2021
Country: United States
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 256
About the Author
Hall Bjørnstad is associate professor of French at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he also directs the Renaissance Studies Program. He is the author of a monograph on Blaise Pascal, coeditor of Walter Benjamin’s Hypothetical French Trauerspiel and Universal History and the Making of the Global, and the editor of Borrowed Feathers: Plagiarism and the Limits of Imitation in Early Modern Europe.
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