The Waning of the Renaissance, 1550-1640 (Paperback, Rev Ed)

Historians have conventionally viewed intellectual and artistic achievement as a seamless progression in a single direction, with the Renaissance, as identified by Jacob Burckhardt, as the root and foundation of modern culture. But in this brilliant new analysis William Bouwsma rethinks the accepted view, arguing that while the Renaissance had a beginning and, unquestionably, a climax, it also had an ending. Examining the careers of some of the greatest figures of the age-Montaigne, Galileo, Jonson, Descartes, Hooker, Shakespeare, and Cervantes among many others-Bouwsma perceives in their work a growing sense of doubt and anxiety about the modern world. He considers first those features of modern European culture generally associated with the traditional Renaissance, features which reached their climax in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. But even as the movements of the Renaissance gathered strength, simultaneous impulses operated in a contrary direction. Bouwsma identifies a growing concern with personal identity, shifts in the interests of major thinkers, a decline in confidence about the future, and a heightening of anxiety. Exploring the fluctuating and sometimes contradictory atmosphere in which Renaissance artists and thinkers operated, Bouwsma shows how the very liberation from old boundaries and modes of expression that characterized the Renaissance became itself increasingly stifling and destructive. By drawing attention to the waning of the Renaissance culture of freedom and creativity, Bouwsma offers a wholly new and intriguing interpretation of the place of the European Renaissance in modern culture.

General

Imprint:	Yale University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Yale Intellectual History of the West Series
Release date:	September 2002
First published:	September 2002
Authors:	William J. Bouwsma
Dimensions:	235 x 156 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	304
Edition:	Rev Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-300-09717-7
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > History of ideas, intellectual history Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Books > Humanities > History > European history > General Books > History > European history > General Books > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Promotions
LSN:	0-300-09717-4
Barcode:	9780300097177

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