The nineteenth century’s phantasmagorias made it a mythical epoch

Evidence

The fact that the daring creations of the nineteenth century presented themselves as phantasmagorias made the epoch a mythical one. To speak of the protohistory of the nineteenth century, therefore, meant not only to bring the Goethean concept of genotype out of its heathen context in nature and into the Jewish contexts of history'. It also pointed to the dark side of the epoch, its demonic, opaque, unredeemed character. Protohistory of the nineteenth century’ also suggested the secular enlightenment which could be drawn from its mythical elements, and from them alonefor example, a bright, everyday sense of wonder, which was what made architectural structures that were flooded with light into what they were. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 840

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘protohistory of the nineteenth century’ means as a concept joining Goethe’s genotype with Jewish history.
• XREF: connects to: Phantasmagoria is aesthetic appearance turned into commodity function. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 386; This work is concerned with awakening from the nineteenth century — The City as Dreamworld and Catastrophe; The Iron Maiden was a fabricated nineteenth-century entertainment — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 792

Broader Connections

• Phantasmagoria is aesthetic appearance turned into commodity function. #expands (0.90) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 386
• The Iron Maiden was a fabricated nineteenth-century entertainment #exemplifies (0.75) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 792