The Oxford Handbook of Decadence

Jane Desmarais is Professor of English and Director of the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research is primarily focused on nineteenth-century literature and visual culture, specifically literary and visual decadence, and Anglo-French cultural relations at the fin de siecle. Her publications include Decadence and Literature, co-edited with David Weir (2019), Monsters Under Glass: A Cultural History of Hothouse Flowers from 1850 to the Present (2018), Arthur Symons: Selected Early Poems, co-edited with Chris Baldick (2017), and Decadence and the Senses, co-edited with Alice Conde (2017). David Weir is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at Cooper Union in New York City. He is the author of ten books, including three on the topic of decadence: Decadence and the Making of Modernism (1995), Decadent Culture in the United States (2009), and Decadence: A Very Short Introduction (2018). He has also written the "Decadence" entry for the second edition of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2014) and edited, with Jane Desmarais, Decadence and Literature (2019).

Introduction: Decadence, Culture, and Society David Weir and Jane Desmarais Part I: Periods 1. Classical Antiquity: Unlikely Decadent Prototypes in Republican Rome Shushma Malik 2. Ages of Empire: Pinnacles of Decline Norman Vance 3. Fin de Siecle, Gilded Age, or Belle Epoque: Different Endings to the Same Century Shearer West 4. The Interwar Period: Legacies of Decadence Melanie Hawthorne 5. Contemporary Contexts: Decadence Today and Tomorrow Alice Conde Part II: Places 6. France: The Rise of Modern Decadence Benedicte Coste 7. Belgium: Decadent Land, Barbarian Language Clement Dessy 8. Britain and Ireland: Decadence beyond London Alex Murray 9. Italy: Decadent Dichotomies in a Disruptive Age Lara Raffaelli 10. Germany: Decadence from the Wilhelmine Empire to the Weimar Republic Katharina Herold 11. Nordic Cultures: From Wilderness to Metropolitan Decadence Pirjo LyytikAEinen 12. Eastern Europe: The "New People" of Decadence Sasha Dovzhyk 13. Turkey: Ottoman Tanzimat and the Decadence of Empire OEzen Nergis Dolcerocca 14. Japan: Decadence and Japonisme Stefano Evangelista Part III: Genres 15. The Decadent Novel: Generic Inversions Kristin Mahoney 16. The Decadent Short Story: Forms of the Morbid Kostas Boyiopoulos 17. Decadent Theater: New Women and "The Eye of the Beholder" Sos Eltis 18. Essays: Defending and Describing Decadence Nick Freeman 19. Prose Poetry: All the Rest Is Literature Jane Desmarais and David Weir 20. Cinema: Adapting Decadence David Weir Part IV: Materialities 21. Book Arts: The Decadent Gesamtkunstwerk Kirsten MacLeod 22. Fashion: Decadent Stylings Catherine Spooner 23. Interior Decoration: Designing Decadence Jessica Gossling 24. Architecture: Constructing Decadence Lori Smithey Part V: Senses 25. Vision: Decadence in Symbolist Art of the Fin de Siecle Vivien Greene 26. Hearing: Bodies Resounding in Decadent Literature Fraser Riddell 27. Smell: Perfume and Olfaction Catherine Maxwell 28. Taste: Savoring Decadence David Weir and Jane Desmarais 29. Touch: Unfeeling Decadence Jane Desmarais Part VI: Theories 30. Theology: Decadent Aesthetics, Anglo-Catholicism, and Ritual Matthew Bradley 31. Science: Entropy, Degeneration, and Decadent Self-Destruction Jordan Kistler 32. Ecology: The Vital Forces of Decay Dennis Denisoff 33. Philosophy: Post-Kantian Narratives of Decadence Andrew Huddleston 34. Psychoanalysis: From Degeneration to Regeneration Jean-Michel Rabate 35. Politics: Ideologies of Decadence Neville Morley