The Invisible Flâneuse? - (Critical Perspectives in Art History) by Aruna D'Souza & Tom McDonough (Paperback)

About the Book

This collection of essays applies the most current thinking in literature and urban studies to an examination of visual culture of 19th century France - painting, caricature, illustrated magazines, posters - resulting in a subtle map of the gendered topography of Parisian modernity, the stomping ground of the flâneur.

From the Back Cover

This collection of essays revisits gender and urban modernity in nineteenth-century Paris in the wake of changes to the fabric of the city and social life. In rethinking the figure of the flâneur, the contributors apply the most current thinking in literature and urban studies to an examination of visual culture of the period, including painting, caricature, illustrated magazines, and posters. Using a variety of approaches, the collection re-examines the long-held belief that life in Paris was divided according to strict gender norms, with men free to roam in public space while women were restricted to the privacy of the domestic sphere.

Framed by essays by Janet Wolff and Linda Nochlin - two scholars whose work has been central to the investigation of gender and representation in the nineteenth century - this collection brings together new methods of looking at visual culture with a more nuanced way of picturing city life.

Review Quotes

''Scholars of art history, the social sciences, and gender studies will find much that is useful in this volume due to its reinvestigation of the issue of the presence--both imaginative and material--of the flaneuse in Parisian society." --Therese Dolan, Professor of Art History, Tyler School of Art, Temple University

'Scholars of art history, the social sciences, and gender studies will find much that is useful in this volume due to its reinvestigation of the issue of the presence--both imaginative and material--of the flaneuse in Parisian society." --Therese Dolan, Professor of Art History, Tyler School of Art, Temple University

About the Author

Aruna D'Souza is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Tom McDonough is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Binghamton University, State University of New York