Beyond Romanticism: New Approaches to Texts and Contexts

"Beyond Romanticism" is a challenge to traditional views of Romanticism as they have developed on both sides of the Atlantic. It provides a sustained critique of "Romantic ideology". The essays engage in debates central to the development of literary studies. These debates have traditionally been under-represented in the study of Romanticism, where the claims of history have not had the same status as in other periods, and where confidence in poetic literary value is still at its height. "Beyond Romanticism" demystifies "the Romantic" by examining the historical development of "Romanticism" and demonstrating how this very aesthetic construction asserted its independence. The essays also examine the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary Romantic discourses, such as mesmerism, Hellenism, orientalism and nationalism. This book should be of interest to postgraduates, undergraduates and academics of English literature, particularly Romantic literature.