The following topics are suggestions only. You are welcome to come up with your own as long as you run it by me first. All of the topics require research, but some may require research beyond our library, or the use of interlibrary loans. Read thes topics over carefully early in the course so that you can start compiling materials as soon as possible.
Click here for some hints about formulating a thesis and writing a good introduction.
1) In both Europe and America in the 18th and 19th centuries many prints portrayed Africans. The textual and visual discourses around blackness and slavery are particularly interesting. Prints were used to support both pro- and anti-slavery (Abolitionist) positions. An analysis of a body of these images would reveal how the images framed and extended the debates. Research outside our library, either at Stanford or Berkeley, would enhance this topic greatly. [see bibliography page]
2) Take any one of Hogarth's series of prints (the Harlot's Progress, Industry and Idleness etc.) and examine the social issues that are being dealt with in the images. What kind of commentary do the prints supply their viewers? How do they represent the issues? This topic could also apply to any series by Rowlandson or Cruikshank as well. [see bibliography page]
3) Caricature and the French Revolution. Consider the political uses of prints and caricature in the late 18th century in France. How were prints used? How do they portray the powerful figures of the time? How is humor and the grotesque used? What audiences are assumed by such works? [see bibliography page]
4) Reformation and Counter-Reformation uses of the print. The Reformation was one of the first times that prints were used extensively for political and ideological ends. The depictions of Luther and the Pope in broadsheets, as well as the depictions of priests and other members of the Church hierarchy, give us ideas about how the battle lines were drawn in the disputes, and how caricature and satire could be powerful social, religious, and political weapons. [see bibliography page]
5) The representation of woman in Renaissance and Baroque prints. The ways in which popular imagery represented the virtues of woman form an interesting body of works with which to examine how the ideals of womanhood-as well as the fears of women- were articulated through the visual material. There are various ways that you could more clearly define this general topic. One way would be to consider in greater detail the image and concept of the witch in the 16th and 17th centuries. How is the witch invented? Why? What social or cultural function do witch images and literature have? What is the relationship of the female witch to Eve, to heresy? Another sub-genre of the image of woman topic might be powerful women (Judith, Delilah, Phyllis, Dido, etc.). What anxiety around women and power is expressed in these representations? What fantasy? The World Upside Down images also play roles in this (role reversal, 'battle of the pants' images). Such turnings of roles are often proposed as visual jokes, but we all know what Freud said about jokes. A third possibility might be to approach the body of the woman as pornographic spectacle, tracing the theory and iconography of the representation of the erotic female nude. [see me for bibliographic assistance if required].
6) The peasant is the subject of a number of northern prints and this large body of representations has garnered the attention of a number of scholars. Over a period of years, indeed, several articles published in the art history journal Simiolus addressed the issue of the social meanings of these images. Taking this body of scholarship, evaluate the range of opinions on the matter.
7) The ideals of masculinity or femininity in Victorian Illustrated newspapers and magazines. This topic may require trips to other libraries or interlibrary loans to get hold of the materials that you will need. But if this is possible for you, then it would be an interesting topic (perhaps Stanford's library?). [see bibliography page]
8) In our Special Collections Library is a two volume set of French books entitled Les Fleurs Animčes (1851; illustrations by J. J. Grandville). These volumes have numerous tinted prints of women as various flowers. A number of interesting issues come up in the illustrations, including the articulation of female virtue. The illustrations as a whole are obviously regenerating the whole correlation of woman=nature, but we might ask more specifically why these images appear at this time and what their social function was. What is the relation of these to the Botanical or Herbal book? Is it an example of 'popular science' or an attempt to get women into the garden working in a domestic context? Close consideration of the iconography of several of the most interesting of these images, as well as an examination of other popular representations of women during the period would, I think, generate a number of interesting questions. Reading ability in French would be an asset. [Call number NC 1135 G63 v. 1-2. Special Collections]
9) Illustrations of anatomy are among the most numerous and interesting in the body of prints through the 16th to 19th centuries. Of particular interest are representations of the female body, where the images, though presenting themselves as objective and scientific, are suggestive of a commentary on women and women's sexuality. Indeed, in some early works, the 'anatomical' and 'pornographic' are closely related. This topic may require research outside of our library, either at Stanford or Berkeley. [see bibliography page]
10) Fashion topics. Various topics could be formulated around the issue of fashion. Such topics might include the corseting controversy in Victorian England and how caricature and advertising images played roles; the Neo-classical, diaphanous dresses of France around the time of the revolution, or the elaborate hair constructions of French women in the Pre-Revolutionary period. The male fashions of the 'Dandy' might also be of interest. [For French fashions, refer first to the Face a Face catalogue in the bibliography page. For the corseting controversy see David Kunzle].
11) The image of the wild man and wild family in late 15th and early 16th century woodcuts and engravings. 'Wild people' were often idealized figures in the art of the period, and crop up in a number of types of circumstances, playing cards, images of wild families in imitation of the Holy Family, initials, coats of arms, and so on. What significances did these images have to the people of the time who saw them? Reading knowledge in German an asset.
12) Dancing and images of dancing in late 15th and early 16th century woodcuts and engravings. Dancing had a particulary moralizing discourse around it, and some kinds of dances were singled out for class related satire. Analyze a range of images of dances and dancing attempting to discover the range of uses and meanings of these images with dancing. Be sure to cover imagery including subjects such as Herod and Salome, as well as images including peasant dancing and couples dancing.
Finding books is usually easy with electronic databases such as Melvyl or Cruzcat. But be sure to try variations when doing title word or subject searches. For example, if you were looking for something on Giotto and you were using a title word search, you should try 'Giotto's' as well, becasue there might be a book called Giotto's Frescoes in Padua and you would miss it in a search only for the title word 'Giotto'.
Similarly, in searching for subjects, try to be thorough. Ask yourself what other kind of category might this object be listed under (altars, altarpiece, altarpieces, altar, Renaissance altar[s], and so on).
Finding articles is an important part of your research. An new database helps. Click here for PCI. Click on the part that says "Articles". Here too, try word variations.
Try also the 'Current Contents' database through Melvyl (type cc at the prompt; if accessing from home you'll need a password. You can get one from the librarian at the circulation desk). There is also a series of volumes called the Art Index available in the Reference area of the library. Ask a Reference Librarian for help.
