Romanticism and the Rise of the Mass Public

Franta redefines Romanticism's contribution to modern conceptions of politics and publicity.

Andrew Franta (Author)

9780521117104, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 July 2009

260 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.39 kg

'Acute and suggestive in its readings, Romanticism [and the Rise of the Mass Public] is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the converging stories of Romanticism and the mass public in modernity and is of definite interest for scholars drawn to the subject.' Modern Philology

Dramatic changes in the reading public and literary market in early nineteenth-century England not only altered the relationship between poet and reader, these changes prompted marked changes in conceptions of the poetic text, literary reception, and authorship. With the decline of patronage, the rise of the novel and the periodical press, and the emergence of the mass reading public, poets could no longer assume the existence of an audience for poetry. Andrew Franta examines how the reconfigurations of the literary market and the publishing context transformed the ways poets conceived of their audience and the forms of poetry itself. Through readings of Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Hemans, and Tennyson, and with close attention to key literary, political, and legal debates, Franta proposes a unique reading of Romanticism and its contribution to modern conceptions of politics and publicity.

Acknowledgements
Introduction: the regime of publicity
1. Public opinion from Burke to Byron
2. Wordsworth's audience problem
3. Keats and the review aesthetic
4. Shelley and the politics of political poetry
5. The art of printing and the law of libel
6. The right of private judgement
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]