The Simplest of Signs

"Raser's approach is of necessity interdisciplinary: to show how Hugo defines the genre of art criticism, he must take into account the influences, recurrent themes, and references that are used by literary historians. Since, however, the texts discussed frequently refer to drawings, engravings, or paintings, the formal analyses of art history also come into play. Further, since the works described are invariably discussed in terms of their "beauty," aesthetics and beyond it, the twentieth-century critique of nineteenth-century aesthetics, are used."--Jacket.