Romantic Epics and the Mission of Empire

A lively account of the Romantic-era revival of epic literature set against the background of British imperialism's evangelical turn.

Matthew Leporati (Author)

9781009285186, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 November 2023

316 pages
23.4 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

'[A] wide-ranging and compelling study.' Jason Whittaker, Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly

The British Romantic period saw an unprecedented explosion in epic poems, an understudied literary phenomenon that enabled writers to address unique historical tensions of the era. Long associated with empire, epic revived at a time when Britain was expanding its imperial reach, and when the concept of imperialism itself began to evolve into the notion of a benevolent project of spreading British culture and religion across the globe. Matthew Leporati argues that the epic revival not only reflects but also interrogates this evangelical turn. The first to examine the impact of the missionary work on epic literature, this book offers sustained analysis of both under-read and canonical works, bringing fresh historical and literary contexts to bear on our understanding of this unique revival of epic poetry. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Introduction: invoking the Epic poem
1. Epic conversions
2. The revival of the missionary enterprise
3. Heroes of conquest and conversion
4. Ann Yearsley's 'Brutus' as evangelical Epic poem
5. 'Authority from heaven': anxieties of the mission of empire in Robert Southey's Madoc
6. 'A particular favourite of heaven': Olaudah Equiano as hybrid Epic hero
7. 'Mark well my words! they are of your eternal salvation': William Blake's Milton as missionary against empire
8. Epic evangelism in the prelude and Don Juan
An epilogue in media Res: fragmentation past and future
Appendix I: The missionary: a poem by Thomas Williams (1795)
Appendix II: The mission (1796) by Thomas Beck
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]