Romanticism and the Human Sciences: Poetry, Population, and the Discourse of the Species (Cambridge Studies in Romanticism, Series Number 41)

This study, published in 2000, examines the dialogue between Romantic poetry and the human sciences of the period. Maureen McLane reveals how Romantic writers participated in a new-found consciousness of human beings as a species, by analysing their work in relation to discourses on moral philosophy, political economy and anthropology. Writers such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley explored the possibilities and limits of human being, language and hope. They engaged with the work of theorisers of the human sciences - Malthus, Godwin and Burke among them. The book offers original readings of canonical works, including Lyrical Ballads, Frankenstein and Prometheus Unbound, to show how the Romantics internalised and transformed ideas about the imagination, perfectibility, immortality and population which so energised contemporary moral and political debates. McLane provides a defence of poetry in both Romantic and contemporary theoretical terms, reformulating the predicament of Romanticism in general and poetry in particular. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 6 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Introduction, or the thing at hand......Page 13 CHAPTER 1 Toward an anthropologic: poetry, literature, and the discourse of the species......Page 22 FRANKENSTEIN AND THE END OF LETTERS......Page 25 “POETRY” IS NOT “LITERATURE”......Page 29 FRANKENSTEIN: THE MARINER AS A FAILED POET......Page 32 POETRY AS AN OBJECT OF DISCOURSE: DEFINITIONS AND DISCONTENTS......Page 35 POETRY DISCOURSING: TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGIC OF IMAGINATION......Page 41 POETRY UNBOUND/REBOUND: TOWARD A DISCOURSE NETWORK......Page 47 CHAPTER 2 Do rustics think?: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and the problem of a “human diction”......Page 55 FROM HUMAN DICTION TO HUMAN MIND: DO RUSTICS THINK?......Page 58 HOW RUSTICS MIGHT THINK: ABOUT MASTERS, FOR EXAMPLE......Page 66 PERSONIFICATION, IMPERSONATION, VENTRILOQUISM: THE AMBIGUOUS WORK OF POETRY......Page 74 DISCURSIVE NEGOTIATIONS: MORAL PHILOSOPHY AGAINST POETRY AGAINST MORAL PHILOSOPHY......Page 77 TELLING STORIES ABOUT OTHERS: “RUTH” AS A CRITIQUE OF ETHNOGRAPHIC SEDUCTION......Page 81 EXPERIMENTS ON THE BORDER: BALLAD MEDIATIONS......Page 91 CHAPTER 3 Literate species: populations, “humanities,” and the specific failure of literature in Frankenstein......Page 96 THE RUPTURE IN THE “HUMAN” WORLD......Page 99 NATIVES OF THE WORLD......Page 103 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION......Page 105 ACQUIRING HUMAN BEING: “HUMANITIES” AS REMEDY......Page 108 RENOUNCING HUMAN BEING: SPECIES REVISING......Page 112 SECURING THE WORLD FOR HUMAN BEING: TOWARD A MALTHUSIAN HUMANITARIANISM......Page 116 CHAPTER 4 The “arithmetic of futurity”: poetry, population, and the structure of the future......Page 121 TOWARD A DISCOURSE NETWORK: POETRY, POPULATION, AND “REFORMING THE WORLD”......Page 123 EXPERIMENTING WITH THE FUTURE: THE MORAL PHILOSOPHICAL IMPASSE OF REVOLUTION......Page 127 REVOLUTION REDUX: SHELLEY’S REVOLT OF ISLAM......Page 130 FIGURING FUTURITY: THE FUTURE’S URN......Page 134 THE THREAT OF HISTORY: FUTURITY AS “KNOWING NOT”......Page 138 ENTOMBING THE PAST: FIGURING A WAY OUT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY IMPASSE......Page 142 HYPOTHETICAL HISTORIES AND FUTURITIES: THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH......Page 145 “REFORMING THE WORLD”: REALIZING THE REVOLUTIONARY FICTION......Page 147 SHELLEY’S PROMETHEUS UNBOUND: FUTURITY AS SUCCESSIVE RECONSTRUCTION......Page 150 NEW ENDINGS: RUINING RUIN AND REHABILITATING “MAN”......Page 155 MAKING POSSIBLE: POETRY AND THE DISCOURSE OF MAN......Page 157 POETIC INTERVAL, INVENTION, AND INTERVENTION......Page 160 BUT POETRY MAKES NOTHING HAPPEN: MALTHUSIAN REBUTTALS......Page 168 CHAPTER 5 Dead poets and other romantic populations: immortality and its discontents......Page 171 IMMORTALITY, NATALITY, MORTALITY: PRELIMINARIES......Page 175 IMMORTALITY IN THE MORAL PHILOSOPHICAL FIELD: PERFECTIBILITY VERSUS “CHASTIZED THINKING”......Page 180 CHAPTER XII......Page 184 IMMORTALITY AND THE STRUCTURE OF FEELING: “MODES” OF IMMORTALITY......Page 187 Mode I: Godwin’s sepulchral mnemotechnics......Page 189 Mode 2: Wordsworth and the anthropologic of natality......Page 190 TOWARD WORDSWORTHIAN IMMORTALITY: NATALITY, NATIVITY, AND “VAIN PERPLEXITY”......Page 194 WORDSWORTHIAN IMMORTALITY: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF NATALITY......Page 197 THE END OF WORDSWORTH AND THE END OF IMMORTALITY: WORDSWORTH’S ODE UNDONE......Page 201 SHELLEY’S GRAVE INQUIRIES: “POPULOUS SOLITUDE” AS A CRITIQUE OF ROMANTIC CONSCIOUSNESS......Page 206 OTHER POPULATIONS: “HUNGRY GENERATIONS” AND KEATS’S IMMORTALS IN PAIN......Page 213 CRITICAL MORTALITIES: DEAD POETS......Page 221 EPILOGUE Immortality interminable: the use of poetry for life......Page 228 INTRODUCTION, OR THE THING AT HAND......Page 239 1 TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGIC: POETRY, LITERATURE, AND THE DISCOURSE OF THE SPECIES......Page 242 2 DO RUSTICS THINK?: WORDSWORTH, COLERIDGE, AND THE PROBLEM OF A “HUMAN DICTION”......Page 250 3 LITERATE SPECIES: POPULATIONS, “HUMANITIES,” AND THE SPECIFIC FAILURE OF LITERATURE IN FRANKENSTEIN......Page 254 4 THE “ARITHMETIC OF FUTURITY”: POETRY, POPULATION, AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE FUTURE......Page 259 5 DEAD POETS AND OTHER ROMANTIC POPULATIONS: IMMORTALITY AND ITS DISCONTENTS......Page 267 EPILOGUE, OR IMMORTALITY INTERMINABLE: THE USE OF POETRY FOR LIFE......Page 278 Bibliography......Page 280 Index......Page 288 Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 6 Title 7 Copyright 8 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction, or the thing at hand 13 CHAPTER 1 Toward an anthropologic: poetry, literature, and the discourse of the species 22 FRANKENSTEIN AND THE END OF LETTERS 25 “POETRY” IS NOT “LITERATURE” 29 FRANKENSTEIN: THE MARINER AS A FAILED POET 32 POETRY AS AN OBJECT OF DISCOURSE: DEFINITIONS AND DISCONTENTS 35 POETRY DISCOURSING: TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGIC OF IMAGINATION 41 POETRY UNBOUND/REBOUND: TOWARD A DISCOURSE NETWORK 47 CHAPTER 2 Do rustics think?: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and the problem of a “human diction” 55 FROM HUMAN DICTION TO HUMAN MIND: DO RUSTICS THINK? 58 HOW RUSTICS MIGHT THINK: ABOUT MASTERS, FOR EXAMPLE 66 PERSONIFICATION, IMPERSONATION, VENTRILOQUISM: THE AMBIGUOUS WORK OF POETRY 74 DISCURSIVE NEGOTIATIONS: MORAL PHILOSOPHY AGAINST POETRY AGAINST MORAL PHILOSOPHY 77 TELLING STORIES ABOUT OTHERS: “RUTH” AS A CRITIQUE OF ETHNOGRAPHIC SEDUCTION 81 EXPERIMENTS ON THE BORDER: BALLAD MEDIATIONS 91 CHAPTER 3 Literate species: populations, “humanities,” and the specific failure of literature in Frankenstein 96 THE RUPTURE IN THE “HUMAN” WORLD 99 NATIVES OF THE WORLD 103 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION 105 ACQUIRING HUMAN BEING: “HUMANITIES” AS REMEDY 108 RENOUNCING HUMAN BEING: SPECIES REVISING 112 SECURING THE WORLD FOR HUMAN BEING: TOWARD A MALTHUSIAN HUMANITARIANISM 116 CHAPTER 4 The “arithmetic of futurity”: poetry, population, and the structure of the future 121 TOWARD A DISCOURSE NETWORK: POETRY, POPULATION, AND “REFORMING THE WORLD” 123 EXPERIMENTING WITH THE FUTURE: THE MORAL PHILOSOPHICAL IMPASSE OF REVOLUTION 127 REVOLUTION REDUX: SHELLEY’S REVOLT OF ISLAM 130 FIGURING FUTURITY: THE FUTURE’S URN 134 THE THREAT OF HISTORY: FUTURITY AS “KNOWING NOT” 138 ENTOMBING THE PAST: FIGURING A WAY OUT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY IMPASSE 142 HYPOTHETICAL HISTORIES AND FUTURITIES: THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH 145 “REFORMING THE WORLD”: REALIZING THE REVOLUTIONARY FICTION 147 SHELLEY’S PROMETHEUS UNBOUND: FUTURITY AS SUCCESSIVE RECONSTRUCTION 150 NEW ENDINGS: RUINING RUIN AND REHABILITATING “MAN” 155 MAKING POSSIBLE: POETRY AND THE DISCOURSE OF MAN 157 POETIC INTERVAL, INVENTION, AND INTERVENTION 160 BUT POETRY MAKES NOTHING HAPPEN: MALTHUSIAN REBUTTALS 168 CHAPTER 5 Dead poets and other romantic populations: immortality and its discontents 171 IMMORTALITY, NATALITY, MORTALITY: PRELIMINARIES 175 IMMORTALITY IN THE MORAL PHILOSOPHICAL FIELD: PERFECTIBILITY VERSUS “CHASTIZED THINKING” 180 CHAPTER XII 184 IMMORTALITY AND THE STRUCTURE OF FEELING: “MODES” OF IMMORTALITY 187 Mode I: Godwin’s sepulchral mnemotechnics 189 Mode 2: Wordsworth and the anthropologic of natality 190 TOWARD WORDSWORTHIAN IMMORTALITY: NATALITY, NATIVITY, AND “VAIN PERPLEXITY” 194 WORDSWORTHIAN IMMORTALITY: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF NATALITY 197 THE END OF WORDSWORTH AND THE END OF IMMORTALITY: WORDSWORTH’S ODE UNDONE 201 SHELLEY’S GRAVE INQUIRIES: “POPULOUS SOLITUDE” AS A CRITIQUE OF ROMANTIC CONSCIOUSNESS 206 OTHER POPULATIONS: “HUNGRY GENERATIONS” AND KEATS’S IMMORTALS IN PAIN 213 CRITICAL MORTALITIES: DEAD POETS 221 EPILOGUE Immortality interminable: the use of poetry for life 228 Notes 239 INTRODUCTION, OR THE THING AT HAND 239 1 TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGIC: POETRY, LITERATURE, AND THE DISCOURSE OF THE SPECIES 242 2 DO RUSTICS THINK?: WORDSWORTH, COLERIDGE, AND THE PROBLEM OF A “HUMAN DICTION” 250 3 LITERATE SPECIES: POPULATIONS, “HUMANITIES,” AND THE SPECIFIC FAILURE OF LITERATURE IN FRANKENSTEIN 254 4 THE “ARITHMETIC OF FUTURITY”: POETRY, POPULATION, AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE FUTURE 259 5 DEAD POETS AND OTHER ROMANTIC POPULATIONS: IMMORTALITY AND ITS DISCONTENTS 267 EPILOGUE, OR IMMORTALITY INTERMINABLE: THE USE OF POETRY FOR LIFE 278 Bibliography 280 Index 288 "This study examines the dialogue between British Romantic poetry and the human sciences of the period. Maureen McLane reveals how Romantic writers participated in a new-found consciousness of human beings as a species, by analysing their work in relation to major discourses on moral philosophy, political economy, and the emerging discipline of anthropology. The book offers original readings of canonical works, including Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, to show how the Romantics internalized and transformed ideas about the imagination, futurity, perfectibility, immortality, and population which so energized the moral and political debates of the period."--Jacket This innovative study examines the dialogue between British Romantic poetry and the human sciences of the period. Maureen McLane reveals how Romantic writers participated in a new-found consciousness of human beings as a species, engaging with major discourses on moral philosophy, political economy and anthropology by preeminent theorists such as Malthus, Godwin and Burke. The book provides original readings of canonical works, including Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, and has much to say about the place of Romantic poetry within its culture. This book, published in 2000, examines the relationship between British Romantic poetry and the human sciences of the period. Maureen McLane offers original readings of major works in the Romantic canon, focusing on their engagement with the philosophical, political and anthropological writing of pre-eminent theorists such as Malthus, Godwin, Burke and others. The dialogue between Romantic poetry and the human sciences of the period is examined in this work. The Romantic writers' work is analysed in relation to discourses on moral philosophy, and a new-found consciousness of human beings is seen to emerge