F1405 The Stones of Venice and The Seven Lamps of Architecture: Ruskin, Marcel Proust, Henry James

The influence of Ruskin on both Proust and James can hardly be overestimated. Proust translated him and his writings were a travel companion to Henry James.
The course will set out to try to understand the fascination Ruskin exerted on these imminent writers. But the second step should be to try to read both Proust’s and James’ novels as some kind of counter discourse to the Venice described by Ruskin. In both Proust and James, the decadent Venice becomes a formidable force. The city is capable of numbing all action, to hinder the quick pulses of life. Ruskins’ Renaissance of Venice is thus counteracted by the novels of both James and Proust.

N.B. Prior knowledge for admission - see list of Readings.