1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910458183503321

Autore

Hepburn Allan

Titolo

Enchanted objects : visual art in contemporary fiction / / Allan Hepburn

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2010

©2010

ISBN

1-4426-8639-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (289 p.)

Disciplina

823/.91409357

Soggetti

Art in literature

Art objects in literature

American fiction - 20th century - History and criticism

American fiction - 21st century - History and criticism

English fiction - 20th century - History and criticism

English fiction - 21st century - History and criticism

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction: Art and Objects in Contemporary Fiction -- 2. Details: Vermeer and Specificity -- 3. Ornament: Books in A Case of Curiosities and Salamander -- 4. Fragility: The Case of Utz -- 5 Looking at Ugliness: Pascali's Island and Stone Virgin -- 6. Conclusion: On Display -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Enchanted Objects investigates the relationship between visual art and contemporary fiction, addressing the problems that arise when paintings, deluxe books, porcelains, or statues are represented in contemporary novels. The distinction between objects and art objects depends on aesthetics. While some objects are authenticated through museum exhibits, others are hidden, broken, neglected, coveted, hoarded, or salvaged.Allan Hepburn asks four broad questions about aesthetics and value: What is a detail in visual art? Is all art ornamental? Does the value of an object increase because it is fragile? What defines ugliness? Contemporary novels, such as Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a



Pearl Earring, Barry Unsworth's Stone Virgin, and Bruce Chatwin's Utz offer implicit answers to these questions while critiquing museums and the determination to invest objects with value through display. Addressing current debates in museum studies, cultural studies, art history, and literary criticism, Enchanted Objects develops an extensive theory of how contemporary literature engages with and relates to aesthetic objects.