Essay on "Culture Event From the Past"

Essay 4 pages (1671 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Louis XIV's Versailles a symbol of royal absolutism and an expression of the classical baroque style?

Louis XIV used the physical setting of his royal court at Versailles to exert his political control over France. Versailles became a temple to French royalty that was used to tame the French nobility. It was architecturally designed and artistically decorated to proclaim Louis' glory as the Sun King (as Louis was known). Versailles was a spectacular estate complete with stately fountains and orange groves. It became home to thousands of the most important nobles, royal officials and servants. While its maintenance and new additions cost over have of the annual state revenues, Versailles paid Louis significant political benefits, especially in the area of propaganda.

Louis ruled personally. This made him the chief source of patronage and favors. To emphasize his importance, he organized life at Versailles around his daily routine. They would whisper requests in his ear. Such demeaning behavior domesticated and tamed the nobility, eliminating them as a threat to the king's power. The appearance of Versailles and the king's royal court was in line with the Baroque. "The style Louis XIV can perhaps best be defined as an Italianate Baroque tamed by classicist principles (Carsten, 1961, 163)." Like an Italian potentate, Louis ruled personally and directly. The Baroque art supported him via the propaganda of art.

2. Who were the central figures of the Scientific Revolution and what were their contributions? Did this really bring about a scientific "revolution"?

Central figures of the Scientific Revolution included such individuals as Copernicus, Galileo, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes. Copernicus and Galileo contributed to the idea of a sun-centered solar system. Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton contributed to the empirical, experimental scientific method that was dependent upon experimental testing. This did bring about a revolution because now it was expected that knowledge was tested and verifiable objectively (ibid, 2004, 449-454).

3. Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," so read that before posting.

When did it first become apparent to you that Swift's proposal was not serious? How did you respond? It became apparent to me that Swift's proposal was not serious when he quoted the "American friend" who claimed that the flesh of a one-year-old baby would be a nutritious, wholesome food. I responded by assuming that Swift was doing this for effect to emphasize the suffering of the Irish at the hands of the British. He was an activist against the ongoing British occupation.

4. Describe some of the evidence Darwin offers to demonstrate his claim that man has descended from a lower form. Do you think his examples are compelling?

Darwin's "finches," although misidentified were at the center of his theory of evolution. Although he was not aware of the significance of the findings while onboard the HMS Beagle in the Galapagos Islands, he became aware of this after speaking with ornithologist John Gould. The finches had such varying diets as cactus and seeds, fruits and blood. Darwin would later base much of his thought from supposing that these finches were all descendents of the same lineage and ancestry.

At first his examples were not persuasive due to his lack of experience as an ornithologist. Only later, was he able to recognize this. By 1859, he was finally able to publish these ruminations in plausible form in his Origin of Species. By the time The Descent of Man came out in 1871, his colleagues in the scientific community accepted his evidence with wide acclaim.

5. How is the concept of the heroic personality as manifested in the fictional figures of Prometheus, Frankenstein, and Faust? The concept of the heroic personality is manifested in the above figures via the vehicle of technology. Throughout history man has yearned to live a simple existence. At the same time he has attempted to improve his condition and change his environment through knowledge and technology. The ambivalence between knowledge and simplicity has been recorded in literature by great writers and philosophers for centuries. The figures of Prometheus and Faust have been used to symbolically express this dilemma. Prometheus does this via the discovery of fire. For Frankenstein, it is biology gone wild. For Faust, it is alchemy and the quest for a short cut to eternity via a strategy of action. Like Nietzsche, the hero must always be striving to better themselves and is always at war with the gods in order to take what he needs to better himself.

6. What was the role of nationalism in the arts? Are there nationalistic themes in the visual arts (Gros, Gericault, Goya, Delacroix, Bartholdi, Rude)? Individuals like Gros, Gericault, Goya, Delacroix, Bartholdi, Rude were the principal exponents of heroic and nationalistic themes in the visual arts in the 19th century. We in the 21st century who are live in the wake of two world wars and a cold war only two decades gone have to remember that in the 19th century, nationalism was seen as a positive and progressive development. Oppressed peoples would have their aspirations fulfilled by having nation states of their own where they could speak their own language and enjoy their own cultures.

7. How did industrialism, colonialism, nationalism, and imperialism lead to Western global dominion? Did this help or hinder modern society? How? Like the European countries, the U.S. has had its experiences with imperialism, industrialism, colonialism and nationalism. In the industrialized European countries such as Britain, Germany and France, this lead them on a search for overseas markets for their goods and as an outlet for their restless youth. In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned in his state of the Union address about what he termed a "military industrial complex" that threatened American democracy and that this had to watched and safeguarded against. The old general, just two decades out of the last war of European imperialism, knew first hand the effects of European industrialism, colonialism, nationalism, and imperialism and its nexus with militarism and Social Darwinism. The power that the European "military industrial complexes" represented could not be countered in the underdeveloped world in the 19th century and not until the European powers had bled each other white were nationalist movements in former colonial areas able to assert some of their own national control. In this long run, this did not help the European imperialistic countries. It only led to the decimation of their young populations and their reduction to minor players on the world scene.

In my opinion, this is happening to the U.S. now and Eisenhower was absolutely right. With U.S. forces and bases in over 100 countries, we are less, not more secure. We are fighting the wars of international corporations. Business for them is a killing, and business is good. For the average American, it translates into depression, degradation, a lower standard of living and reduction of the American dream to that of a nightmare where Americans will foot the bill for corporate profits.

8. What was the impact of technology and the new physics on the arts? How did it effect the development of Science Fiction?

Technology and the physics were reflected with an ambivalent quality by the arts, especially in the wake of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, but also previous to that. On the one hand, fictional works such as Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World and George Orwell's 1948 futuristic novel 1984 portrayed anti-utopias where technology was on a rampage and individual rights are in full retreat. On the other hand, futurism was an artistic movement originating in Italy around 1910. Its aim was to express the energy, dynamism and violence quality contemporary life, especially as embodied in the motion and force of modern machinery. While futurism… READ MORE

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