This wide-ranging new history of European Romantic Literature presents a pan-European phenomenon which transcended national borders and contributed to a new sense of European cultural identity across the continent. Conceived in the same spirit as Madame de Staël's cultural and political agenda at a time when her 'generous idea' of Europe is being challenged on all sides, the volume pays close attention to the period's circulation of people, ideas, and texts. It proposes to rethink the period comparatively, focusing on various forms of cultural mediation and transfer, and on productive tensions, synchronicities, and interactions within and across borders. Organized chronologically, its twenty chapters address over five hundred works, proposing a coherent historical narrative without completely erasing individual nations' specificities. By showcasing in particular the place of Britain within continental culture, the volume hopes to reactivate critical examinations of Romanticism from a historicised European perspective.

The first detailed treatment of Switzerland in British literature and culture from Joseph Addison to John Ruskin, this book analyzes the aesthetic and political uses of what is commonly called the 'Swiss myth' in the parallel development of Romanticism and liberalism. The myth merged the country's legends going back to the Middle Ages with the Enlightenment image of a happy, free nation of alpine shepherds. Its unique combination of conservative, progressive, and radical associations enabled writers before the French Revolution to call for democratic reforms, whereas those coming after could refigure it as a conservative alternative to French liberte. Integrating intellectual history with literary studies, and addressing a wide range of Romantic-period texts and authors, among them Byron, the Shelleys, Hemans, Scott, Coleridge, and, above all, Wordsworth, the book argues that the myth contributed to the liberal idea of the people as a sublime yet sleeping sovereign.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!