Don't Forget the Chopin Liszt!

In all our intellectual talk about current events, crowd sourcing and the digital divide, it seems like we sometimes forget that there were actually people living during the historical periods we are studying who had families, and religious beliefs, and favorite foods, and favorite books, and a keen enjoyment of music and dancing and art that had cultural significance to them. In other words, we sometimes forget that the time periods we are studying are not just spans of numbers on a timeline that were governed by governments and affected by technological and social changes - they are actual moments in people's lives, filled with their culture.

In my group's presentation on the 19th century this week, we did not really address the culture of that time period, so I would like to briefly touch on it. Of course I can't begin to cover 100 years of worldwide culture in a single blog post, but here is a representative sample of some of the culture of the 1800s:

Literature: One very influential author of the 19th century was Charles Dickens, an English novelist who wrote many novels that bore strong social commentary, such as "A Christmas Carol" and "Oliver Twist," which are still considered beloved classics today.

Art: One significant artist from the 19th century was Claude Monet, the founder of French impressionist painting, and the painter of such masterpieces as "Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies" and "Poppies Blooming."

Child Rearing: Some changes in child rearing philosophy occurred in the 19th century with the creation of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory and his conceptualization of the id, ego and superego.

Dance: A new English dance - the waltz - rose from peasantry to the finest dance halls in England, breaking social barriers as it tossed away the formality of holding partner at arm's length and paired partners together in a close embrace.

Religious Beliefs: A new religion came on the scene in the 19th century with the advent of what is commonly referred to as the Latter-day Saint Movement, originating in upstate New York, which has now spread to become the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and affected the lives of millions of people.

Food: A big breakthrough in 19th century food preparation came about when French confectioner and brewer Nicolas Appert discovered that food did not spoil when sealed tightly in jars, and came up with the process of canning, which is still widely used to distribute food today.

Music: Last but not least, 19th century found the musical Romantic period coming to full swing, with composers like Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin on the scene, creating beautiful music like Liszt's famous Hungarian Rhapsodies, and concert etudes such as "La Campanella" and "Un Sospiro," and Chopin's ballades, etudes, and waltzes like "Waltz in C Sharp Minor" and "The Minute Waltz."

So, as we study important philosophies, governments and technologies, don't forget that there were people who lived at the time who were happy to find ways to preserve food, and raise their children right, and dance scandalously close to each other to the tune a lively Chopin waltz. Without the richness of culture inside, the greater things would have been only a hollow shell.