John Ruskin's romantic idealism and its influence on early Arts and Crafts institutions in the Southern Appalachians.

摘要

This paper traces the effects of romantic idealism promulgated in John Ruskin's (1814-1900), aesthetic, socio-economic and educational theories to the crafts revival in the Highland region of Southern Appalachia at the turn of the century. It follows the influence of Ruskin's thought through the Arts and Crafts Movement and the androgogical practices of American urban settlement houses and connects it with the Appalachian settlement schools' curriculum and goals.;The personal and social factors impelling Ruskin's revolt against Victorian social Darwinism and scientific materialism of the burgeoning industrial revolution are outlined. Ruskin's claim that only a just culture produces great art, and that aesthetic values reveal moral values is examined for its immediate implications and applications in reforming arts education and practice. His attempts to reform labor conditions and foster handicraft is scrutinized. Some early English and American school and workshop experiments based on this model are reviewed.;Ruskin's thought, first published in Modern Painters in 1843, inspired the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Led by William Morris, its founders combined democratic and socialist ideals with romantic idealism, and shaped handicraft education and manufacture along egalitarian and cooperative lines. The emphasis on arts and crafts education in early settlement houses is traced to these influences.;An examination of primary documents of certain Appalachian settlement schools and of their leaders link their values to Ruskin's romantic idealism, revealing close ties with the Arts and Crafts Movement and the urban settlement houses. The conclusion suggests that the revival of handicrafts in the Southern Appalachians was strongly affected by romantic idealism's veneration of handicrafts as a mode of instilling social values and building a sense of community, and offers suggestions for the relevance of romantic idealism to modern androgogical practices.