Academic Sessions: Exeter 1998
Past and Present: Nationalism and Race in British Art and Architecture, 1790-1920
Convener:
Dr Christine Poulson (University of Sheffield)
Papers in this session will address the ways in which British artists in the long 19th century employed the past to construct a sense of national identity. This could include the way that artists drew on iconography from history and myth to suggest parallels between past and present. An example could be the way in which artists drew on precedents such Cromwell and the Protectorate and Arthur and the Round Table as precursors of 19th -century parliamentarianism. It would be appropriate also to consider the ways that Celtic and Anglo-Saxon identities were subsumed within, or seen in opposition to, an overarching British identity.
Papers might also examine the ways that references to tradition and the past were used to justify war and imperial expansion in, for instance, war memorial imagery. Papers could also address the ways in which vernacular styles and materials were used to suggest a continuance or revival of
specifically British traditions. The Gothic revival and the Arts and Crafts movement would come within the scope of this session. So would the design of kinds of buildings thought to embody quintessentially British institutions, e.g. law courts and town halls.
Proposals for papers should be sent to the convener at the following address
Dr Christine Poulson (University of Sheffield)
Papers in this session will address the ways in which British artists in the long 19th century employed the past to construct a sense of national identity. This could include the way that artists drew on iconography from history and myth to suggest parallels between past and present. An example could be the way in which artists drew on precedents such Cromwell and the Protectorate and Arthur and the Round Table as precursors of 19th -century parliamentarianism. It would be appropriate also to consider the ways that Celtic and Anglo-Saxon identities were subsumed within, or seen in opposition to, an overarching British identity.
Papers might also examine the ways that references to tradition and the past were used to justify war and imperial expansion in, for instance, war memorial imagery. Papers could also address the ways in which vernacular styles and materials were used to suggest a continuance or revival of
specifically British traditions. The Gothic revival and the Arts and Crafts movement would come within the scope of this session. So would the design of kinds of buildings thought to embody quintessentially British institutions, e.g. law courts and town halls.
Proposals for papers should be sent to the convener at the following address