Reimagining the soul: ancient Egyptian iconography and British material culture, 1830 - 1930

我的研究认为，肖像学的文化意义被博物学家和历史学家低估了。目前的文学分为两个不同的群体。一个研究文化史，帝国主义和宗教，但忽视物质文化（科拉，Luckhurst，Gange）。其他人则专注于美学，而不探究思想和信仰的历史（Curl，Rugg，布鲁克斯）。与此相反，我认为，在英国的埃及复兴的物质文化不是纯粹的装饰，但关于灵魂的性质和意识的来世的激烈辩论的物质标志。我的研究将是第一个使用埃及图像的维多利亚时代的拨款，结合档案研究，揭示古埃及的思想如何超越时间和文化，并在现代英国的物质展示。我的方法结合了物质文化，宗教和展示的观点，以展示古埃及如何影响现代英国的死亡，灵魂和来世的概念。目前的学术主要集中在装饰元素ofmetropolitan墓地，然而，我将分析许多墓地在中部地区，以揭示古埃及的影响程度更广泛的现代英国。此外，来自神秘学家如海伦娜·彼得罗夫娜·布拉瓦茨基和阿莱斯特·克劳利的档案资料显示了古埃及观念被重新概念化的方式。除了展示这些墓地和纪念碑如何在装饰层面上影响英国文化外，这项研究还将揭示英国宗教狂热的物质文化如何代表埃及复兴影响的灵性，死亡和来世的概念，以及英国在埃及的帝国参与。最终，我的目标是博士学位导致学术界的职业生涯和关于现代英国埃及死亡和灵魂概念的文化挪用的专著。

My research argues that the cultural significance of Egyptianising iconography has been underestimated by Egyptologists and historians. The current literature divides into two distinct groups. One examines cultural history, imperialism and religion yet disregards material culture (Colla, Luckhurst, Gange). Others focus on aesthetics without probing the history of ideas and belief (Curl, Rugg, Brooks). In contrast, I argue that the material culture of the Egyptian revivals in Britain were not purely decorative, but were material markers of fractious debates regarding the nature of the soul and the afterlife of consciousness. My research will be the first to use Victorian appropriations of Egyptian imagery, combined with archival research, to reveal how ideas of ancient Egypt transcended time and cultures, and were displayed materially in Modern Britain. My approach unites perspectives on material culture, religion, and display to show how ancient Egypt influenced conceptions of death, the soul, and the afterlife in Modern Britain. Current scholarship largely focuses on the decorative elements ofmetropolitan cemeteries, however, I will analyse numerous cemeteries in the Midlands to reveal the extent to which ancient Egypt was influencing Modern Britain more broadly. Also, archival sources from occultists such as Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley show the ways in which ancient Egyptian notions were reconceptualised. In addition to showing how these burial sites and monuments influenced British culture on a decorative level, this research will reveal how the material culture of British Egyptomania represented notions of spiritualism, death and the after-life that had been influenced by the Egyptian revivals, and Britain's imperial involvement in Egypt. Ultimately, I aim for the PhD to lead to a career in academia and a monograph on the cultural appropriation of Egyptian notions of death and the soul within modern Britain.