- Voluptuous Interventionism: An Introductory Note from the Editor-in-Chief Desmarais, Jane H.. 2018. Voluptuous Interventionism: An Introductory Note from the Editor-in-Chief. Volupté: interdisciplinary journal of decadence studies, 1(1), i-vi. ISSN 2515-0073
- Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows Desmarais, Jane H.. 2017. Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows. Literary Encyclopedia, ISSN 1747-678X
- Kenneth Grahame Desmarais, Jane H.. 2017. Kenneth Grahame. Literary Encyclopedia, ISSN 1747-678X
- Shedding light on the ‘Pre-Raphaelite stunners’ Desmarais, Jane H.. 2016. Shedding light on the ‘Pre-Raphaelite stunners’. The Conversation,
- Review: Kostas Boyiopoulos. The Decadent Image: The Poetry of Wilde, Symons and Dowson. Desmarais, Jane H.. 2015. Review: Kostas Boyiopoulos. The Decadent Image: The Poetry of Wilde, Symons and Dowson. Review of English Studies, 67(279), pp. 393-394. ISSN 0034-6551
- Matthew Potolsky: The Decadent Republic of Letters: Taste, Politics, and Cosmopolitan Community from Baudelaire to Beardsley. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2013. 232 pages. Desmarais, Jane H.. 2015. Matthew Potolsky: The Decadent Republic of Letters: Taste, Politics, and Cosmopolitan Community from Baudelaire to Beardsley. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2013. 232 pages. arcadia, 50(2), pp. 464-467. ISSN 0003-7982
- Review: Matthew Potolsky, The Decadent Republic of Letters: Taste, Politics, and Cosmopolitan Community from Baudelaire to Beardsley, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013, pp. 232. ISBN 978-0-8122-4449-6 Desmarais, Jane H.. 2015. Review: Matthew Potolsky, The Decadent Republic of Letters: Taste, Politics, and Cosmopolitan Community from Baudelaire to Beardsley, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013, pp. 232. ISBN 978-0-8122-4449-6. The Oscholars, ISSN 2045-0753
- Ernest Christopher Dowson Desmarais, Jane H.. 2015. Ernest Christopher Dowson. Literary Encyclopaedia,
- Lionel Johnson Desmarais, Jane H.. 2014. Lionel Johnson. The Literary Encyclopedia,
- Lord Alfred Douglas Desmarais, Jane H.. 2014. Lord Alfred Douglas. Literary Encyclopedia,
- John Henry Gray Desmarais, Jane H.. 2014. John Henry Gray. The Literary Encyclopedia,
- Arthur William Symons Desmarais, Jane H.. 2014. Arthur William Symons. The Literary Encyclopedia,
- Shrinking the Stereotype of Psychoanalysis Desmarais, Jane H.. 2005. Shrinking the Stereotype of Psychoanalysis. Psychotherapy Section Review, 38, pp. 27-36.
- Preferring not to: The Paradox of Passive Resistance in Herman Melville's 'Bartleby' Desmarais, Jane H.. 2001. Preferring not to: The Paradox of Passive Resistance in Herman Melville's 'Bartleby'. Journal of the Short Story in English, 36, pp. 25-39. ISSN 0294-0442
- Anorexic and Passive Resistance in Melville’s “Bartleby” (1853): A Literary Case Study’ Desmarais, Jane H.. 2001. Anorexic and Passive Resistance in Melville’s “Bartleby” (1853): A Literary Case Study’. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, 18, pp. 82-93. ISSN 1362-6620
- The Paradox of Passive Resistance in Herman Melville's "Bartleby" Desmarais, Jane H.. 2001. The Paradox of Passive Resistance in Herman Melville's "Bartleby". Journal of the Short Story in English, 36, pp. 25-39.
- The Musical Analogy in Beardsley Criticism 1898-1914 Desmarais, Jane H.. 1997. The Musical Analogy in Beardsley Criticism 1898-1914. Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, 6, pp. 64-90. ISSN 1060-149X
- The Bentham Project Desmarais, Jane H.. 1990. The Bentham Project. UCL News,
Professor Jane Desmarais
Literary and visual decadence and Anglo-French cultural relations in the late 19th century.
Staff details
Position
Professor of English, Head of Department and Director of the Decadence Research Centre
Department
j.desmarais (@gold.ac.uk)
Links
Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups
Jane Desmarais is Professor of English and Head of the Department of English and Creative Writing. She is the Director of the Decadence Research Centre, Editor-in-Chief of Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, and Chair of the British Association of Decadence Studies (BADS).
Academic qualifications
- Ph.D., ‘The Beardsley Industry’, Birkbeck, University of London 1995
- MA, Literature and the Visual Arts, 1840-1940, Reading University 1986
- BA Hons. English, Reading University 1985
Research interests
Jane's research is primarily focused on nineteenth-century literature and visual culture, specifically literary and visual decadence, and Anglo-French cultural relations at the fin de siècle. Her recent publications include Decadence and Literature, co-edited with David Weir (Cambridge UP, 2019), Monsters Under Glass: A Cultural History of Hothouse Flowers from 1850 to the Present (Reaktion, 2018), Arthur Symons: Selected Early Poems, co-edited with Chris Baldick (MHRA, 2016), and Decadence and the Senses, co-edited with Alice Condé (Legenda, 2016). She is co-editor with David Weir of the Oxford Handbook of Decadence (Oxford UP, 2021) and is currently working on an edition of Decadent Plays, 1890-1930, with Adam Alston for Bloomsbury (2023).
She is a core member of both the Decadence and Translation Network and the Aestheticism and Decadence Network, and she is organiser (with Alice Condé and Jessica Gossling) of an annual series of international conferences and events on decadence, the most recent being Aesthetic Time, Decadent Archives in July 2019. She is an Honorary Member of the Italian Oscar Wilde Society and was recently elected to the Academia Europaea.
Jane also publishes in the fields of history and psychoanalysis. She has worked on the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham (Oxford) and the journal Utilitas (Edinburgh UP). Her work in psychoanalysis focuses on two principal ideas: resistance and complementarity; and her most recent publication in this field is Presence of Mind in Neurophysiological Processes (with Lawrence Goldie).
Featured publications
2021:
The Oxford Handbook of Decadence
Ed. Jane Desmarais and David Weir
2019:
Decadence and Literature (Cambridge Critical Concepts series)
Ed. Jane Desmarais and David Weir
2018:
Monsters Under Glass
A Cultural History of Hothouse Flowers from 1850 to the Present
2016:
Arthur Symons, Selected Early Poems
Ed. Jane Desmarais and Chris Baldick
2016:
Decadence and the Senses
Ed. Jane Desmarais and Alice Condé
Grants and awards
Funding overview:
Jane has received external grant funding from several organisations to support her work including: the AHRC, British Academy, ESSE, MHRA, Paul Mellon Centre of Studies in British Art
Publications and research outputs
Book
- Monsters Under Glass: A Cultural History of Hothouse Flowers from 1850 to the Present Desmarais, Jane H.. 2018. Monsters Under Glass: A Cultural History of Hothouse Flowers from 1850 to the Present. London: Reaktion. ISBN 9781780239750
- A Cultural History of Decadence Desmarais, Jane H.. 2016. A Cultural History of Decadence. Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN 978-0745626000
- Presence of Mind in Neurophysiological Processes Goldie, Lawrence and Desmarais, Jane H.. 2013. Presence of Mind in Neurophysiological Processes. Karnac Books. ISBN 9781855758858
Edited Book
- Decadent Plays, 1890-1930 Alston, Adam and Desmarais, Jane H., eds. 2024. Decadent Plays, 1890-1930. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781350171824
- The Oxford Handbook of Decadence Desmarais, Jane H. and Weir, David, eds. 2020. The Oxford Handbook of Decadence. New York and London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190066956
- Decadence and Literature Desmarais, Jane H. and Weir, David, eds. 2019. Decadence and Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108550826
Edited Journal
- Translating Decadence Coste, Bénédicte and Desmarais, Jane H., eds. 2024. Translating Decadence, Quaderni di LEA - Scrittore e Scritture d'Oriente e d'Occidente, 6. 1824-484X
- Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies Desmarais, Jane H., ed. 2018. Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, 1(1).
Book Section
- Taste: Savoring Decadence Desmarais, Jane H. and Weir, David. 2021. Taste: Savoring Decadence. In: Jane Desmarais and David Weir, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Decadence. New York and London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190066956
- Touch: Unfeeling Decadence Desmarais, Jane H.. 2021. Touch: Unfeeling Decadence. In: Jane Desmarais and David Weir, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Decadence. New York and London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190066956
- Contemporary Contexts: Decadence Today and Tomorrow Condé, Alice. 2021. Contemporary Contexts: Decadence Today and Tomorrow. In: Jane H. Desmarais and David Weir, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Decadence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 96-114. ISBN 9780190066956
Article
- Decadent Aesthetics in Cyril Scott’sTranslations and Song Settings Desmarais, Jane H.. 2024. Decadent Aesthetics in Cyril Scott’sTranslations and Song Settings. Quaderni di LEA - Scrittore e Scritture d'Oriente e d'Occidente, 6, pp. 81-100. ISSN 1824-484X
- Introduction Coste, Bénédicte and Desmarais, Jane H.. 2024. Introduction. Quaderni di LEA - Scrittore e Scritture d'Oriente e d'Occidente(6), pp. 7-10. ISSN 1824-484X
- Late-Victorian Decadent Song Literature Desmarais, Jane H.. 2021. Late-Victorian Decadent Song Literature. Victorian Literature and Culture, 49(4), pp. 689-710. ISSN 1060-1503
Conference or Workshop Item
- The Musical Aesthetics (‘such as it is’) of Arthur Symons (1865-1945) Desmarais, Jane H.. 2015. 'The Musical Aesthetics (‘such as it is’) of Arthur Symons (1865-1945)'. In: Arthur Symons: Writing Across Arts and Cultures. IUAV, Venice, Italy.
- Memory and desire in Arthur Symons’ London Nights (1895) Desmarais, Jane H.. 2011. 'Memory and desire in Arthur Symons’ London Nights (1895)'. In: Decadent Poetics. University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Digital
- Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies Gossling, Jessica and Condé, Alice. 2018. Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies.
Performance
- Decadent Plays Alston, Adam; Desmarais, Jane H. and Meth, Jonathan. 2021. Decadent Plays. In: "Decadent Plays", The Albany, London, United Kingdom, 10 November 2021.
Professional Activity
- Editor-in-Chief of Volupté: interdisciplinary journal of decadence studies Desmarais, Jane H.. 2018. Editor-in-Chief of Volupté: interdisciplinary journal of decadence studies.
