Title: Victorian poets and the politics of culture
First published: 1998
Description: With the publication of his ambitious new work Victorian Poets and the Politics of Culture, Antony H. Harrison continues his exploration of poetry as a significant force in the construction of English culture from 1837-1900. In chapters focusing on Victorian medievalist discourse, Alfred Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Matthew Arnold, and Christina Rossetti, Harrison examines a range of Victorian poems in order to show the cultural work they accomplish. He illuminates, for example, such culturally prominent Victorian mythologies as the exaltation of motherhood, the Romanic appropriation of transcendent art, and the idealization of the gypsy as a culturally alien, exotic Other. His investigation of the ways in which the authors intervene in the discourses that articulate such mythologies and thereby accrue cultural power -- along with his analysis of what constitutes "cultural power" -- are original contributions to the field of Victorian studies. "The power of Victorian poetry by midcentury was enhanced by the institutionalization of particular channels through which it circulated," Harrison writes. "poetry was 'consumed' in more varied forms than was other literature." Victorian Poets and the Politics of Culture has implications for both cultural studies and the study of literature outside the Victorian period. - Publisher.
Subjects: Culture, Discourse analysis, Literary, English poetry, History, History and criticism, Literary Discourse analysis, Medievalism, Political and social views, Political aspects, Political aspects of Culture, Politics and literature, English poetry, history and criticism, 19th century, Politics and culture, Tennyson, alfred tennyson, baron, 1809-1892, Browning, elizabeth barrett, 1806-1861, Arnold, matthew, 1822-1888, Rossetti, christina georgina, 1830-1894, Great britain, history, victoria, 1837-1901
Places: England, Great Britain
People: Alfred Tennyson Tennyson Baron (1809-1892), Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
Time periods: 19th century, Victoria, 1837-1901
LC classification: PR595.H5 H37 1998