Romanticism and the Gothic: Genre, Reception, and Canon Formation (Cambridge Studies in Romanticism, Series Number 40)

This is the first full-length study to examine the links between high Romantic literature and what has often been thought of as a merely popular genre - the Gothic. Michael Gamer offers a sharply focused analysis of how and why Romantic writers drew on Gothic conventions whilst, at the same time, denying their influence in order to claim critical respectability. He shows how the reception of Gothic literature, including its institutional and commercial recognition as a form of literature, played a fundamental role in the development of Romanticism as an ideology. In doing so he examines the early history of the Romantic movement and its assumptions about literary value, and the politics of reading, writing and reception at the end of the eighteenth century. As a whole the book makes an original contribution to our understanding of genre, tracing the impact of reception, marketing and audience on its formation. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 6 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Abbreviations......Page 13 A note on the text......Page 15 INTRODUCTION Romanticism’s ‘‘pageantry of fear’’......Page 17 I GOTHIC DEFINITIONS AND THE LEGACIES OF RECEPTION......Page 24 II WHY GOTHIC?......Page 39 CHAPTER 1 Gothic, reception, and production......Page 43 I TOWARDS A THEORY OF GOTHIC’S RECEPTION......Page 45 II GOTHIC DIALOGUES......Page 54 III MARKING AND MARKETING GOTHIC......Page 58 CHAPTER 2 Gothic and its contexts......Page 64 I GENDERS: ROMANCE AND READERLY SEDUCTION......Page 66 II DISCOURSES: GENDER, PURITY, AND THE DISCIPLINES......Page 72 III ECONOMIES: THE CIRCULATING LIBRARY AND THE PERIODICAL......Page 78 IV GENEALOGIES: RADCLIFFE, LEWIS, AND THE ‘‘GERMAN’’......Page 85 V LEGALITIES: ‘‘A VEIN OF OBSCENITY’’......Page 95 3 ‘‘Gross and violent stimulants’’: producing Lyrical Ballads 1798 and 1800......Page 106 I THE ROLE OF COLERIDGE......Page 108 II GOTHIC ‘‘READING’’ IN THE BALLADS OF 1798......Page 118 III GOTHIC RECEPTIONS AND PASTORAL PRODUCTIONS: LYRICAL BALLADS (1800)......Page 132 IV CUTTING ‘‘CHRISTABEL’’......Page 139 CHAPTER 4 National supernaturalism: Joanna Baillie, Germany, and the gothic drama......Page 143 I THE SUPERNATURAL ONSTAGE......Page 147 II REGULATING GOTHIC THEATRICAL SPACES......Page 150 III THE SPECTRE OF GERMANY......Page 160 IV BRITON’S GHOSTS AND ‘‘NATIVE GENIUS’’......Page 166 CHAPTER 5 ‘‘To foist thy stale romance’’: Scott, antiquarianism, and authorship......Page 179 I GENDER, HISTORY, AND GOTHIC......Page 182 II FROM IMITATOR TO EDITOR......Page 187 III ‘‘THE POETRY OF ANTIQUARIANISM’’......Page 192 IV THE POLITICS OF GOTHIC AUTHORSHIP......Page 202 V CODA. THE ROMANTIC AUTHOR’S ‘‘PROPER PERSON’’......Page 211 INTRODUCTION. ROMANTICISM’S ‘‘PAGEANTRY OF FEAR’’......Page 217 I GOTHIC, RECEPTION, AND PRODUCTION......Page 223 2 GOTHIC AND ITS CONTEXTS......Page 228 3 ‘‘GROSS AND VIOLENT STIMULANTS’’: PRODUCING LYRICAL BALLADS 1798 AND 1800......Page 241 4 NATIONAL SUPERNATURALISM: JOANNA BAILLIE, GERMANY, AND THE GOTHIC DRAMA......Page 249 5 ‘‘TO FOIST THY STALE ROMANCE’’: SCOTT, ANTIQUARIANISM, AND AUTHORSHIP......Page 257 Index......Page 262 Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 6 Title 7 Copyright 8 Dedication 9 Contents 11 Acknowledgments 12 Abbreviations 13 A note on the text 15 INTRODUCTION Romanticism’s ‘‘pageantry of fear’’ 17 I GOTHIC DEFINITIONS AND THE LEGACIES OF RECEPTION 24 II WHY GOTHIC? 39 CHAPTER 1 Gothic, reception, and production 43 I TOWARDS A THEORY OF GOTHIC’S RECEPTION 45 II GOTHIC DIALOGUES 54 III MARKING AND MARKETING GOTHIC 58 CHAPTER 2 Gothic and its contexts 64 I GENDERS: ROMANCE AND READERLY SEDUCTION 66 II DISCOURSES: GENDER, PURITY, AND THE DISCIPLINES 72 III ECONOMIES: THE CIRCULATING LIBRARY AND THE PERIODICAL 78 IV GENEALOGIES: RADCLIFFE, LEWIS, AND THE ‘‘GERMAN’’ 85 V LEGALITIES: ‘‘A VEIN OF OBSCENITY’’ 95 3 ‘‘Gross and violent stimulants’’: producing Lyrical Ballads 1798 and 1800 106 I THE ROLE OF COLERIDGE 108 II GOTHIC ‘‘READING’’ IN THE BALLADS OF 1798 118 III GOTHIC RECEPTIONS AND PASTORAL PRODUCTIONS: LYRICAL BALLADS (1800) 132 IV CUTTING ‘‘CHRISTABEL’’ 139 CHAPTER 4 National supernaturalism: Joanna Baillie, Germany, and the gothic drama 143 I THE SUPERNATURAL ONSTAGE 147 II REGULATING GOTHIC THEATRICAL SPACES 150 III THE SPECTRE OF GERMANY 160 IV BRITON’S GHOSTS AND ‘‘NATIVE GENIUS’’ 166 CHAPTER 5 ‘‘To foist thy stale romance’’: Scott, antiquarianism, and authorship 179 I GENDER, HISTORY, AND GOTHIC 182 II FROM IMITATOR TO EDITOR 187 III ‘‘THE POETRY OF ANTIQUARIANISM’’ 192 IV THE POLITICS OF GOTHIC AUTHORSHIP 202 V CODA. THE ROMANTIC AUTHOR’S ‘‘PROPER PERSON’’ 211 Notes 217 INTRODUCTION. ROMANTICISM’S ‘‘PAGEANTRY OF FEAR’’ 217 I GOTHIC, RECEPTION, AND PRODUCTION 223 2 GOTHIC AND ITS CONTEXTS 228 3 ‘‘GROSS AND VIOLENT STIMULANTS’’: PRODUCING LYRICAL BALLADS 1798 AND 1800 241 4 NATIONAL SUPERNATURALISM: JOANNA BAILLIE, GERMANY, AND THE GOTHIC DRAMA 249 5 ‘‘TO FOIST THY STALE ROMANCE’’: SCOTT, ANTIQUARIANISM, AND AUTHORSHIP 257 Index 262 "Michael Gamer offers a sharply focused analysis of how and why romantic writers drew on gothic conventions whilst, at the same time, denying their influence in order to claim critical respectability. He shows how the reception of gothic writing, including its institutional and commercial recognition as a form of literature, played a fundamental role in the development of romanticism as an ideology. In doing so he examines the early history of the romantic movement and its assumptions about literary value, and the politics of reading, writing, and reception at the end of the eighteenth century. As a whole the book makes an original contribution to our understanding of genre, tracing the impact of reception, marketing, and audience on its formation."--Jacket

This is the first full-length study to examine the links between high Romantic literature and what has often been thought of as a merely popular genre—the Gothic. Michael Gamer analyzes how and why Romantic writers drew on Gothic conventions while, at the same time, denying their influence in order to claim critical respectability. He shows how the reception of Gothic literature played a fundamental role in the development of Romanticism as an ideology, tracing the politics of reading, writing and reception at the end of the eighteenth century.

This is the first full-length study to examine the links between high Romantic literature and what has often been thought of as a merely popular genre - the Gothic. Michael Gamer analyses how and why Romantic writers drew on Gothic conventions whilst denying their influence in order to claim critical respectability At the rare times when literary historians have confronted the question of romantic poetry's relation to gothic fiction and drama, they usually have described it in the language of influence.

the First Full-length Study Of The Relationship Between Romantic And Gothic Literature.