Rhythmic subjects

18/12/2025 26 min

Listen "Rhythmic subjects"

Episode Synopsis

Laura Marcus’s "Rhythmical Subjects" examines rhythm as the central, formative category of the late Victorian and Modernist imaginary. The monumental study details rhythm's role as a vital connective tissue linking diverse fields, including literature, psychology, philosophy, dance, and the life sciences. It explores how thinkers, from Herbert Spencer to Virginia Woolf, grappled with the pulse and flow of modernity. Key topics include physiological aesthetics, Dalcroze’s eurhythmics, and the racialized concepts of the American Rhythm and the "rhythmical subject."