The Haptic Sublime and the ‘cold stony reality’ of Mountaineering

Abstract

This article looks at how the Victorian sport of mountaineering, and the new genre of literature associated with it, mirrored the wider societal preoccupation with physicality and tactility. It traces the various ways in which developments in physiology, psychophysiology, and aesthetics in the late nineteenth century were reflected in the accounts of mountaineers, and suggests that a new aesthetic of mountain appreciation - the ‘haptic sublime’ - emerged in this period, as an expression of this new emphasis on physical engagement.

Keywords

• Mountaineering, physiology, psycho-physiology, physiological aesthetics, touch, physicality, Edward Whymper, Leslie Stephen, John Tyndall, Albert Mummery.