Episode April 27, 2025 16 min 29s

Grotesque Figures: Baudelaire, Rousseau, and the Aesthetics of Modernity

This Book, titled "Grotesque Figures: Baudelaire, Rousseau, and the Aesthetics of Modernity" explores the intricate relationship between the grotesque aesthetic, as seen in the works of Charles Baudelaire, and the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The author examines how Baudelaire engaged with and diverged from eighteenth-century notions of the grotesque, allegory, and personification, particularly in the context of modernity. By analyzing Baudelaire's prose poems and critical writings alongside Rousseau's texts and contemporary perspectives on both figures, the study illuminates Baudelaire's unique artistic vision. The book investigates themes of caricature, the role of the artist, and the sociopolitical implications embedded within the grotesque in 19th-century France. Ultimately, it positions Baudelaire's work as a complex negotiation with the artistic and intellectual legacies of the Enlightenment, especially concerning Rousseau.

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