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Exploring Modernity and Romanticism: A Journey Through Major British Writers II

This course delves into the intricate relationship between Modernity and Romanticism, examining the cultural transformations since the Enlightenment. Topics include the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of capitalism, and the crisis of faith amid scientific advancement. It also highlights the Romantic response to rapid social changes, exploring themes of individualism, imagination, and the retreat from Enlightenment ideals. Through analyses of key literary works, students will engage with the profound shifts in identity, society, and artistic expression from the 18th century to the present.

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Exploring Modernity and Romanticism: A Journey Through Major British Writers II

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  1. Modernity & Romanticism Introduction to ENGL 2523:Major British Writers II

  2. Modernity (ca. 1700-Present) • Condition of Western culture since Empire and Capitalism • Industrial Revolution of 19th Century • Mass production of commodified goodsUniformity and loss of uniqueness • Rise in prominence of reason and science  Crisis of faith • Rise in literacy & industrialized print technology Larger reading public • Rise in commerce  increased personal wealth Democratization that challenged aristocratic order • WWI a culminating point for all of above

  3. Romantic Period in Context (ca. 1795-1837) • American Revolution – 1775-1783 • French Revolution – 1789-1799 • British Wars w/France – 1793-1815 • Industrial Revolution – 1790 – 1835  National & Urban Populations Double, 1791-1831  Economy & Labor base shifts from Rural/Agricultural to Urban/Industrial

  4. Romantic Responses to the Times • Drastic and Rapid Social Change  Revolutions end monarchy, devalue privilege/ entitlement (7)  Undergirded by sense of “Natural Rights”  Leads also to abolition of slavery • Literature: vivid sense of participating in modern world  But sometimes in a hidden way • Romantic literature defamiliarizesworld; sees with fresh eyes (8) • Inward turn toward Imagination, memory, self (8)  Opp. Enlightenment (C18) – objective truth, concrete/ measured realities (8-9) • Also an escapism / exoticism: imagining better possibilities through fantastic Visions of Otherness that reflect own world (11)

  5. Romantic Imagination Mind is not a passive mirror but an active light, visionary power (9) • Levels of Imagination (9) • Analogous to but lesser than divine creation • Poetry a secondary, synthesizing power from Imagination that resolves and vitalizes opposing forces in Nature • Precedes Reason • A semi-autonomous entity of the mind or soul, like the subconscious (10)

  6. Romantic Poetry • Style changes to more organic, erratic forms (14)  Mirror the eccentricities of Nature and the Self  Think of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 • The “I” becomes a more complex, full being with mysterious inner regions (cf. painting “Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog”)

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