Genius and Melancholia. Fryderyk Chopin and Pedagogies of Romanticism in the Perspective of Performance Studies

The book is an interdisciplinary study of the way an outstanding individual functions in society. The author explores how the artistic genius of Fryderyk Chopin is structured or performed and how the theatre of his everyday life is interpreted as dramatic practice and its backstage. Using the biography of the Polish composer, the author analyses performance in Romanticism, individualism and Chopin’s performance as a reborn and resurgent idea. Theauthor also explores the notion of genius, tuberculosis as a metaphor of the period, melancholy, virtuosity, dandyism and the “multitude of Romanticisms” in the first half of the 19 th century. She focuses on the social perception of these concepts and their functioning in the 19th century European artistic context.

Keywords: Fryderyk Chopin, performance, genius, melancholy, tuberculosis.

I have no doubt that the reviewed book will be a significant contribution to many areas of the contemporary humanities, such as the aforementioned current of biographical works, as well as historical analyses and cultural research, in which performance studies play an increasingly important role. The interdisciplinary analyses undertaken by the author are part of the discussion on the toolkit of contemporary humanities in the context of studies on cultural memory. At the same time, the reviewed book, due to the methodological courage and unconventional conclusions, can be an inspiration for students and doctoral candidates who often undertake only very narrow analyses in their works, which are unable to outline the real meanings of a given problem. I am convinced that Dr. Mackenzie’s book will reach a wide audience, including people of science and art.
From Prof. Izabela Trzcińska’s review

Dorota Mackenzie (née Sobstel) – Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Warsaw Kozminski University; historian, cultural studies scholar, translator, playwright, researcher and university lecturer. She received her PhD in humanities at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw. Her research interests include cultural anthropology, sociology of culture and media, social and cultural performance, contemporary theater, esoteric traditions and history of ideas with a focus on feminist theory and postcolonial studies. She is currently working on her habilitation dissertation on sociological aspects of The Royal Art, circulating around symbolic performative management of diversity, leadership studies and (self-)development towards excellence.