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Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900

Alice Barnaby Orcid Logo

Directions in Cultural History

Swansea University Author: Alice Barnaby Orcid Logo

Abstract

In this new cultural history of light, Alice Barnaby explores how urban lives in the nineteenth century were increasingly touched by innovations in the technologies and aesthetics of illumination. Dramatic changes in qualities of light – and darkness – became acutely palpable to the human sensorium;...

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Published in: Directions in Cultural History
ISBN: 9780415663373 9781315407708
Published: New York; London Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2017
Online Access: https://www.routledge.com/Light-Touches-Cultural-Practices-of-Illumination-1800-1900/Barnaby/p/book/9780415663373
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa26962
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spelling 2021-07-07T14:51:26.1159629 v2 26962 2016-03-29 Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900 d2aba7b3e436feb8f15276ab56fc5036 0000-0002-3089-790X Alice Barnaby Alice Barnaby true false 2016-03-29 AELC In this new cultural history of light, Alice Barnaby explores how urban lives in the nineteenth century were increasingly touched by innovations in the technologies and aesthetics of illumination. Dramatic changes in qualities of light – and darkness – became acutely palpable to the human sensorium; using, seeing, feeling, and being in light were now matters of intense personal and cultural concern. Light gave meaningful vitality to the period’s material culture, and light itself became something to be perceptually consumed.Over the course of six chapters Barnaby traces how light was used in amateur artistic pastimes, interior design and clothing fashions, spectacular public amusements, volatile street demonstrations, and art gallery designs. From these previously unexplored examples a more complex history of light in the period emerges. Society’s fascination with illumination, its desire to work with it and make meaning from it gave rise to a distinctly new set of cultural practices. Through these practices unexpected discoveries about the modern world were revealed. Light proved to be instrumental in everyday acts of experimentation and imaginative enquiry. Barnaby offers an intervention into the dominant scholarly narrative of the nineteenth century which traditionally reads modernity as synonymous with the formation of a spectacular, disembodied visuality. Light Touches, in contrast, returns vision to the body and foregrounds the actively felt - as well as seen - sensation of light. In coming to understand these cultural practices of illumination, the book reconsiders many of our assumptions about nineteenth-century modernity. Book Directions in Cultural History Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group New York; London 9780415663373 9781315407708 Lighting Social aspects Great Britain, Visual perception Social aspects Great Britain, Art and society Great Britain History 19th century. 30 11 2017 2017-11-30 https://www.routledge.com/Light-Touches-Cultural-Practices-of-Illumination-1800-1900/Barnaby/p/book/9780415663373 COLLEGE NANME English Literature COLLEGE CODE AELC Swansea University 2021-07-07T14:51:26.1159629 2016-03-29T17:06:25.2480136 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Alice Barnaby 0000-0002-3089-790X 1
title Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
spellingShingle Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
Alice Barnaby
title_short Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
title_full Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
title_fullStr Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
title_full_unstemmed Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
title_sort Light Touches: Cultural Practices of Illumination 1800-1900
author_id_str_mv d2aba7b3e436feb8f15276ab56fc5036
author_id_fullname_str_mv d2aba7b3e436feb8f15276ab56fc5036_***_Alice Barnaby
author Alice Barnaby
author2 Alice Barnaby
format Book
container_title Directions in Cultural History
publishDate 2017
institution Swansea University
isbn 9780415663373
9781315407708
publisher Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
url https://www.routledge.com/Light-Touches-Cultural-Practices-of-Illumination-1800-1900/Barnaby/p/book/9780415663373
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description In this new cultural history of light, Alice Barnaby explores how urban lives in the nineteenth century were increasingly touched by innovations in the technologies and aesthetics of illumination. Dramatic changes in qualities of light – and darkness – became acutely palpable to the human sensorium; using, seeing, feeling, and being in light were now matters of intense personal and cultural concern. Light gave meaningful vitality to the period’s material culture, and light itself became something to be perceptually consumed.Over the course of six chapters Barnaby traces how light was used in amateur artistic pastimes, interior design and clothing fashions, spectacular public amusements, volatile street demonstrations, and art gallery designs. From these previously unexplored examples a more complex history of light in the period emerges. Society’s fascination with illumination, its desire to work with it and make meaning from it gave rise to a distinctly new set of cultural practices. Through these practices unexpected discoveries about the modern world were revealed. Light proved to be instrumental in everyday acts of experimentation and imaginative enquiry. Barnaby offers an intervention into the dominant scholarly narrative of the nineteenth century which traditionally reads modernity as synonymous with the formation of a spectacular, disembodied visuality. Light Touches, in contrast, returns vision to the body and foregrounds the actively felt - as well as seen - sensation of light. In coming to understand these cultural practices of illumination, the book reconsiders many of our assumptions about nineteenth-century modernity.
published_date 2017-11-30T03:32:33Z
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score 11.035634

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