The Bohemian Republic
: an international network of Anglophone Bohemians in mid-nineteenth century Paris, London, New York, and Melbourne

  • James Gatheral

    Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

    Abstract

    This project re-examines the birth of cultural Bohemia in the mid-nineteenth century. Though the story of Parisian Bohemia has been well researched, much less is known of its Anglophone translations. Many have concluded that a true Bohemia could exist only in Paris, but the present project challenges this view by analysing the creation and interaction of three self-identified Bohemian networks in London, New York, and Melbourne.

    The misconception that Bohemia was a purely Parisian phenomenon is refuted; the roles played by a colony of British, Irish, and American expatriates in the Latin Quarter of Paris are clarified for the first time; the cross-channel, trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific migrations of Bohemia are examined; the mechanisms underpinning the development of an international Bohemian network are analysed; and the distinctions between the various instances of Bohemia are established.

    An interdisciplinary approach is applied to assess the work and legacy of a Bohemian network which was in the vanguard of material and aesthetic innovations in literature, art, journalism, and theatre; a marginal network which exerted a paradoxically powerful influence on the development of popular culture.
    Date of AwardSept 2019
    Original languageEnglish
    Awarding Institution
    • University of Brighton
    SupervisorPeter Blake (Supervisor)

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