The Cruel Art of Beauty: Walter Pater and the Uncanny Aestheticism of Isaak Babel′'s Red Cavalry

Author: Bullock, Philip Ross1

Source: The Modern Language Review, Volume 104, Number 2, 1 April 2009 , pp. 499-529(31)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Key:
Free Content - Free Content
New Content - New Content
Subscribed Content - Subscribed Content
Free Trial Content - Free Trial Content

Abstract:

This article argues that Walter Pater's writings may have played a crucial, largely unsuspected role in shaping Isaak Babel′'s aesthetics. After tracing the translation and reception of Pater in Russia, it examines ways in which Babel′'s reading of Pater may have influenced the composition of Red Cavalry: the representation of the nature of art and the artist's calling; the use of ecphrasis as a literary device emphasizing the role of imagination in aesthetic contemplation of artworks; and the relationship between aestheticism and (homo)eroticism. Finally, it suggests that Pater's amoral aestheticism allowed Babel′ to resolve the tension between his appreciation of Lev Tolstoi's style and a dislike of his didacticism.

Keywords: Walter Pater; Isaak Babel′'s aesthetics; translation; reception; Russia; ecphrasis; aestheticism; (homo)eroticism; Lev Tolstoi

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Wadham College, Oxford

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$22.00 plus tax      Refund Policy

 

OR

Back to top

Key:
Free Content - Free Content
New Content - New Content
Subscribed Content - Subscribed Content
Free Trial Content - Free Trial Content
Share this item with others: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Page Help Click here for Page Help
Shopping cart
Tools
Sign in






Need to register?
Sign up here
Text size: A | A | A | A