Faces of Degeneration: A European Disorder, 1848-1918

by Daniel Pick

Book Overview

This book investigates the specific conception and descent of a language of degeneration from 1848 to 1918, with particular reference to France, Italy, and England. The author shows how in the refraction and wake of evolution and naturalism, new images and theories of atavism, d?g?n?rescence and socio-biological decline emerged in European culture and politics. He indicates the wide cultural and political importance of the idea of degeneration, while...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 052145753X
• ISBN13: 9780521457538
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Cultural historians be aware!

Pick's book is a fabulous exploration of the theme of "degeneration" in Europe leading up through the end of WWI, which is particularly useful for those with a literary or philosophical interest in modern thought. If you are looking for exacting research, in mode of traditional or exacting historiography, this book might leave you looking for more. However, what Pick lacks in depth and exactness he gains in producing a sense of the cultural discourse of "degeneration" in terms of a discursive, text-based inquiry.