Read more
This book shows that the publishers and editors of the radical press deployed Romantic-era texts for their own political ends-and for their largely working-class readership-long after those works' original publication. It examines how the literature of the British Romantic period was excerpted and reprinted in radical political papers in Britain in the nineteenth century. The agents of this story were bound by neither the chronological march of literary history, nor by the original form of the literary texts they reprinted. Godwin's Caleb Williams and poems by Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and Shelley appear throughout this book as they appeared in the nineteenth century, in bits and pieces. Radical publishers and editors carefully and purposefully excerpted the works of their recent past, excavating useful political claims from the midst of less amenable texts, and remaking texts and authors alike in the process.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I: The 1790s, Extended.- Chapter 2: Reanimating Caleb Williams; or, How to Keep the 1790s Alive.- Chapter 3: The Past Jumps Up: Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth.- Part II: Politics and Poetics.- Chapter 4: The Lyric Speaker Goes to Gaol: British Poetry and Radical Prisoners.- Chapter 5: From Citation to Recitation: Shelley's "Men of England".- Chapter 6: Coda.- Bibliography.- Index.
About the author
Casie LeGette is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Georgia, USA.
Summary
This book shows that the publishers and editors of the radical press deployed Romantic-era texts for their own political ends—and for their largely working-class readership—long after those works’ original publication. It examines how the literature of the British Romantic period was excerpted and reprinted in radical political papers in Britain in the nineteenth century. The agents of this story were bound by neither the chronological march of literary history, nor by the original form of the literary texts they reprinted. Godwin’s Caleb Williams and poems by Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and Shelley appear throughout this book as they appeared in the nineteenth century, in bits and pieces. Radical publishers and editors carefully and purposefully excerpted the works of their recent past, excavating useful political claims from the midst of less amenable texts, and remaking texts and authors alike in the process.
Additional text
“Remaking Romanticism is a book that will be most enjoyed by readers with a strong interest in either or both the history of printing and the history of radical politics in Britain, but it makes valuable contributions that deserve wider recognition.” (Richard Hughes Gibson, The Coleridge Bulletin, Issue 56, 2020)
“They are helpful overviews for scholars well-versed in the material, and invaluable for students coming to the field. Her discoveries in her readings are often surprising, and sometimes quite humorous, which makes the book both exciting, and a pleasure to read. In short, the book charts brilliantly a way forward for political readings of Romanticism.” (Michael Demson, Studies in Romanticism, Vol. 58 (1), 2019)
“Remaking Romanticism: The Radical Politics of the Excerpt explores ‘how the literature of the Romantic period was excerpted and reprinted in radical papers in Britain throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, and beyond’ … . LeGette’s insightful analysis, which extends the scope of Romanticism in several directions while redefining its temporal and social landscape in compelling ways.” (Dana Van Kooy, European Romantic Review, Vol. 30 (1), 2019)
Report
"Remaking Romanticism is a book that will be most enjoyed by readers with a strong interest in either or both the history of printing and the history of radical politics in Britain, but it makes valuable contributions that deserve wider recognition." (Richard Hughes Gibson, The Coleridge Bulletin, Issue 56, 2020)
"They are helpful overviews for scholars well-versed in the material, and invaluable for students coming to the field. Her discoveries in her readings are often surprising, and sometimes quite humorous, which makes the book both exciting, and a pleasure to read. In short, the book charts brilliantly a way forward for political readings of Romanticism." (Michael Demson, Studies in Romanticism, Vol. 58 (1), 2019)
"Remaking Romanticism: The Radical Politics of the Excerpt explores 'how the literature of the Romantic period was excerpted and reprinted in radical papers in Britain throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, and beyond' ... . LeGette's insightful analysis, which extends the scope of Romanticism in several directions while redefining its temporal and social landscape in compelling ways." (Dana Van Kooy, European Romantic Review, Vol. 30 (1), 2019)
