Balladeering, Minstrelsy, and the Making of British Romantic Poetry (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521895767)

This book is a history and theory of British poetry between 1760 and 1830, focussing on the relationship between Romantic poetry and the production, circulation and textuality of ballads. By discussing the ways in which eighteenth-century cultural and literary researches flowed into and shaped key canonical works, Maureen McLane argues that romantic poetry's influences went far beyond the merely literary. Breathing life into the work of eighteenth-century balladeers and antiquarians, she addresses the revival of the ballad, the figure of the minstrel, and the prevalence of a 'minstrelsy complex' in romanticism. Furthermore, she envisages a new way of engaging with romantic poetics, encompassing both 'oral' and 'literary' modes of poetic construction, and anticipates the role that technology might play in a media-driven twenty-first century. The study will be of great interest to scholars and students of Romantic poetry, literature and culture.

Author: Maureen N. McLane
ISBN-10: 0521895766
ISBN-13: 9780521895767
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/13/2008
Pages: 314
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 01/30/2009 pg. 20