The artistry of exile : romantic and Victorian writers in Italy

The Artistry of Exile is a new reading of one of the most important themes of nineteenth-century literature. Exile represents a crisis in the always present tension between self and culture, the disturbance of memory, the quest for home, and the survival or not of life's heart quakes -- all of which became identifying features of canonical Romanticism. Focusing on two interlinked groups of writers who, for various reasons, felt cast out of England and sought refuge in Italy, this book traces the material and metaphoric dynamics of distance in poems, novels and epistolary conversations. The book brings into dialogue the self-alienation and existential antagonism of the Cain figure with the contingencies of real travel: conversations about writing desks, lost parcels of books, missing pans and stray camels. Domestic and cosmic perspectives mingle as the book reveals how writers realize the full resonance of Dante's vivid summation of exile in the taste of different bread and the difficulty of another man's stairs. As a country that only exists in the early nineteenth-century as a memory, Italy both embodies and energises formal attempts to bridge the distance created by exile in the work of the Byron-Shelley circle and the later Barrett-Browning- Browning collaboration. Examining these writers in relation to Italian art, sound, religion, narrative art and history, the book presents a new perspective on Romantic canonicity and relocates contemporary ideas of cosmopolitanism in the aesthetic, ethical and political debates of the late Romantic and early Victorian world.--Amazon.com The Artistry of Exile is a new reading of one of the most important themes of nineteenth-century literature. Exile represents a crisis in the always-present tension between self and culture, the disturbance of memory, the quest for home, and the survival or not of life's heart-quakes-all of which became identifying features of canonical Romanticism. Focusing on two interlinked groups of writers who, for various reasons, felt cast out of England and sought refuge in Italy, The Artistry of Exile traces the material and metaphoric dynamics of distance in poems, novels, and epistolary conversations. Jane Stabler brings into dialogue the self-alienation and existential antagonism of the Cain figure with the contingencies of real travel: conversations about writing-desks, lost parcels of books, missing pans, and stray camels. Domestic and cosmic perspectives mingle as Stabler reveals how writers realize the full resonance of Dante's vivid summation of exile in the taste of different bread and the difficulty of another man's stairs. As a country that only exists in the early nineteenth century as a memory, Italy both embodies and energizes formal attempts to bridge the distance created by exile in the work of the Byron-Shelley circle and the later Barrett Browning-Browning collaboration. Examining these writers in relation to Italian art, sound, religion, narrative art, and history, the book presents a new perspective on Romantic canonicity and relocates contemporary ideas of cosmopolitanism in the aesthetic, ethical, and political debates of the late Romantic and early Victorian world. Book jacket __The Artistry of Exile__ is a new reading of one of the most important themes of nineteenth-century literature. Exile represents a crisis in the always present tension between self and culture, the disturbance of memory, the quest for home, and the survival or not of life's heart quakes -- all of which became identifying features of canonical Romanticism. Focusing on two interlinked groups of writers who, for various reasons, felt cast out of England and sought refuge in Italy, this book traces the material and metaphoric dynamics of distance in poems, novels and epistolary conversations. The book brings into dialogue the self-alienation and existential antagonism of the Cain figure with the contingencies of real travel: conversations about writing desks, lost parcels of books, missing pans and stray camels. Domestic and cosmic perspectives mingle as the book reveals how writers realize the full resonance of Dante's vivid summation of exile in the taste of different bread and the difficulty of another man's stairs. As a country that only exists in the early nineteenth-century as a memory, Italy both embodies and energises formal attempts to bridge the distance created by exile in the work of the Byron-Shelley circle and the later Barrett-Browning- Browning collaboration. Examining these writers in relation to Italian art, sound, religion, narrative art and history, the book presents a new perspective on Romantic canonicity and relocates contemporary ideas of cosmopolitanism in the aesthetic, ethical and political debates of the late Romantic and early Victorian world. This book explores the ways in which exile concentrates the aesthetics of two generations of 19th-century British writers who felt forced to leave England and chose to live in Italy. Focusing on the Pisan circle (Byron, the Shelleys, Leigh Hunt, and the Williamses), the next generation of exiles, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, and the mobile intermediaries who connected both groups (Anna Jameson, Walter Savage Landor, and Lady Blessington), the book traces the complex legacy of Byron and the Shelleys for the English in Italy in the 19th century. Self-consciously ostracized, singly or in groups, these writers favoured discursive modes of literary creation and used the disjunctions of exile to probe, challenge, and seek answers to compelling questions about literature, art, religion, law, history, and politics. Exile has always been a dialogical condition, fostering reflection on the difference between here and there, then and now, presence and absence. This book re-examines the literary traditions that influence the layered forms of exiled writing. Looking at the interaction of classical and Middle-Age writing with the mixed genres produced by English writers who rejected insular domestic mores and immersed themselves in European culture, the book offers a fresh approach to one of the most important motifs of 19th-century literature. Keeping the material and the mythic aspects of exile in dialogue throughout, the study contributes to current debates in Romantic studies about travel writing, cosmopolitanism and theories of affect Introduction: The experience of exile and the flight to Italy The bow shot of exile Fare thee well! Cain or Christ Boccaccio's lore Strange approximations Doubtful law The calentures of music.