A good understanding of the grotesque necessitates not only an account of the historical development of the word “grotesque” and its usage, but also the various concepts with which it has often been associated, and the different theories and opinions expressed about it. We begin, first of all, by giving a brief examination of the history of the term, its origin, derivation, and semantic evolution.
It is widely agreed that the word “grotesque originated to describe the murals which were discovered, in the course of excavation, beneath the baths of Titus in Rome at the end of the 15th century”. These paintings present a style of art which was completely unknown at the time. It is mainly characterized by its heterogeneous nature; it combines many different and ambivalent elements: human, animal, and vegetable.
In English the word “grotesque” was introduced around 1640 to replace other previous forms, which came either from the Italian, like grotesco or crotesco, or the French like, crotesque. In fact, according to the O.E.D. the French form was the first to be recorded in the language. In French, crotesque occurred in 1532 and continued to prevail until the end of the 17th century.
As early as the 16th century, the word “grotesque extended in French to non artistic things and literature. In his Essai, Montaigne wrote: “Que sont ce icy aussi (Les Essais) a la vérité que crotesques et corps monstrueux”. And Rabelais used it to refer to parts of the body in "Gargantua et Pantagruel" (1535), (“Couillon crotesque”). From the late 17th century, the word as an adjective knew a large usage. But in both England and Germany, it remained restricted to its early original usage until the 18th century when it got a wide application. It was associated with caricature which provoked too much emphasis on the ridiculous and a neglect of the terrible and terrifying side of the grotesque.
Table of Contents
I- The term “grotesque”:
II- The concept “grotesque”:
1- The grotesque : from the Renaissance to the second half of the eighteenth century:
a- Vasari:
b- Justus Moser and Johann Christoph Flogel:
2- The Romantic grotesque:
a- Friedrich Schlegel:
b- Jean-Paul:
c- Victor Hugo:
3- The grotesque in the nineteenth century:
a- F. Th. Vischer:
b- Heinrich Schneegans :
c- Thomas Wright:
d- John Addington Symonds:
e- Walter Bagehot:
f- John Ruskin:
4- The grotesque in the twentieth century:
a- G. K. Chesterton:
b- Wolfgang Kayser:
c- Mikhail Bakhtin:
d- Arthur Clayborough:
III- Conclusion:
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to provide a critical examination of the "grotesque" as an artistic mode, tracing its historical evolution from its archaeological origins in Rome through the Renaissance, the Romantic period, and into the twentieth century. It seeks to explore the semantic transformation of the term and analyze the varying theoretical frameworks used by critics to interpret this complex, often ambivalent, and disharmonious phenomenon in art and literature.
- The historical and semantic evolution of the term "grotesque".
- The shift in the grotesque’s function from a decorative element to an expression of "subjective" vision during the Romantic era.
- The theoretical debates regarding the grotesque’s relationship with caricature, burlesque, and the sublime.
- Psychological and aesthetic interpretations of the grotesque by key twentieth-century thinkers.
Excerpt from the Book
c- Victor Hugo:
The most precious Romantic discourse on the grotesque is not provided by a German but a French artist-Victor Hugo. The preface of his drama, Cromwell, which was meant to be a programme of the new literature- Romanticism- discusses the grotesque at length and with a coherence and profundity which are truly amazing. But before proceeding to any analysis of its content, let us digress a little to give a brief account of the situation of the French drama before the publication of the Preface.
The history of the French Romantic drama began around the year 1730. In 1729, Voltaire returned back from his exile in London. During his stay in England, he had discovered the English theatre, namely that of Shakespeare. Voltaire was immensely fascinated by the grandeur of his work and of his genius: “Shakespeare qui passait pour le Corneille des Anglais, fleurissait à peu près dans le temps de Lopez de Vega; il créa le théâtre ; il avait un génie plein de force & de fécondité, de naturel & de sublime, sans la moindre étincelle de bon goût, & sans la moindre connaissance des régles. » Under the influence of the master of English drama, Voltaire tried to shake the classic tragedy, to give it more life and movement. His Zaire (1732) may be considered as the ancestor of the romantic drama. Nivelle de la Chaussée, in his turn, soon invented what may be called the “pathetic” comedy. And in 1758, Diderot recommended in his Entretiens on his drama, Le Fils Naturel, the creation of a genre which would bear the mark of both tragedy and comedy.
Summary of Chapters
I- The term “grotesque”: An exploration of the etymology and initial usage of the term, tracing it from its discovery in Roman mural excavations to its eventual adoption into English and French literary contexts.
II- The concept “grotesque”: A chronological analysis of the shifting critical understanding of the grotesque, covering the Renaissance rejection, the Romantic resurrection, nineteenth-century associations with caricature, and twentieth-century psychological and aesthetic debates.
1- The grotesque : from the Renaissance to the second half of the eighteenth century: Discusses the early negative reception of the grotesque by Vasari and its slow transformation in German criticism toward the late eighteenth century.
2- The Romantic grotesque: Examines how the Romantic period repurposed the grotesque as a means for expressing subjective and individualistic worldviews, featuring discussions on Schlegel, Jean-Paul, and Hugo.
3- The grotesque in the nineteenth century: Analyzes the shift toward viewing the grotesque primarily as a branch of caricature and burlesque, as advocated by critics like Vischer, Schneegans, Wright, and Ruskin.
4- The grotesque in the twentieth century: Reviews the critical contributions of Chesterton, Kayser, Bakhtin, and Clayborough in defining the grotesque through the lens of modern aesthetics and psychology.
III- Conclusion: Synthesizes the core characteristics of the grotesque, emphasizing its inherent ambivalence, conflict, and the interplay between the comic and the terrifying.
Keywords
Grotesque, Art, Literature, Caricature, Romanticism, Sublime, Aesthetics, Victor Hugo, Wolfgang Kayser, Mikhail Bakhtin, Theory, Ambivalence, Modernism, Burlesque, Criticism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this study?
The study provides a comprehensive critical examination of the grotesque, tracing its historical, semantic, and aesthetic development across several centuries.
What are the central themes discussed in this book?
Key themes include the etymological origins of the term, the evolution of its definition from a mere decorative style to a complex artistic mode, and the various critical debates surrounding its function in art and literature.
What is the central research question?
The work investigates what the grotesque is, how its meaning has changed over time, and how different historical and critical schools have attempted to categorize and define this contradictory phenomenon.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The author utilizes a historical-critical method, analyzing primary source texts (such as prefaces and aesthetic treatises) and comparing various scholarly interpretations from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body systematically explores the conceptual history of the grotesque, dividing it into specific eras—from its classical roots and Renaissance rejection to its Romantic, nineteenth-century, and modern theoretical interpretations.
What are the defining keywords of this research?
The essential concepts characterizing this study include the grotesque, art, literature, caricature, Romanticism, the sublime, aesthetics, and modern critical theory.
How does Victor Hugo define the grotesque in his Preface to Cromwell?
Hugo posits that the grotesque serves as a necessary complement to the sublime; he argues that true art must mirror the ambivalence of the world, encompassing both the beautiful and the distorted.
How does Wolfgang Kayser’s interpretation differ from Mikhail Bakhtin’s?
Kayser tends to view the grotesque as an expression of an alienated, eerie, and demonic world, whereas Bakhtin emphasizes the grotesque's deep roots in folk culture, carnival, and the liberating, regenerative power of humor.
- Citar trabajo
- Kébir Sandy (Autor), 2015, The Concept of the Grotesque from the Reneissance to the Twentieth Century. A Critical Study, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/320257
