Genealogies of Genius [electronic resource] /
Chaplin, Joyce E.editor.
McMahon, Darrin M.editor.
The essays in this volume seek to examine the uses to which concepts of genius have been put in different cultures and times. Collectively, they are designed to make two new statements. First, seen in historical and comparative perspective, genius is not a natural fact and universal human constant that has been only recently identified by modern science, but instead a categorical mode of assessing human ability and merit. Second, as a concept with specific definitions and resonances, genius has performed specific cultural work within each of the societies in which it had a historical presence.
Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of Figures; 1 Introduction; 2 The Problem of Genius in the Age of Slavery; 3 Genius versus Democracy: Excellence and Singularity in Postrevolutionary France; 4 Equality, Inequality, and Difference: Genius as Problem and Possibility in American Political/Scientific Discourse; 5 Genius and Obsession: Do You Have to Be Mad to Be Smart?; 6 Inspiration to Perspiration: Francis Galton's Hereditary Genius in Victorian Context; 7 "Genius Must Do the Scullery Work of the World": New Women, Feminists, and Genius, circa 1880-1920
8 The Cult of the Genius in Germany and Austria at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century9 Cultivating Genius in a Bolshevik Country; 10 Insight in the Age of Automation; 11 Genius and Evil; List of Contributors; Index
Includes index.
The essays in this volume seek to examine the uses to which concepts of genius have been put in different cultures and times. Collectively, they are designed to make two new statements. First, seen in historical and comparative perspective, genius is not a natural fact and universal human constant that has been only recently identified by modern science, but instead a categorical mode of assessing human ability and merit. Second, as a concept with specific definitions and resonances, genius has performed specific cultural work within each of the societies in which it had a historical presence.
World history.
Civilization—History.
History, Modern.
Social history.
Intellectual life—History.
World History, Global and Transnational History.
Cultural History.
Modern History.
Social History.
Intellectual Studies.