Romanticism, Radicalism, and the Press

Although "literature" has traditionally been conceived in terms of a real or implied association with a cultural elite, a body of work exists that does not deliberately try to associate itself with that audience - that may in fact purposely oppose or resist that audience - but which nevertheless exerts a strong influence on what comes to be regarded as "literature". This work specifically examines the relations that developed among British authors of the Romantic period and the Radical culture whose oppositional discourse - both in written text, and in extra-literary material - is one of the most striking aspects of the political and social life of the period. The volume broadens the field of materials to include other aspects of writing culture, including reviews, trial transcripts, philological studies, propaganda, and verbal and visual satire and parody. The essays explore the connections that exist between radical discourse and Romantic poetry, popular writing, periodical reviewing, and middle-class and aristocratic cultural production.
In addition, they offer diverse views on the significance of the publishing trade during the Romantic period, and on the activity of Radical publishers in particular as reflectors and shapers of public opinion and literary form and technique. By investigating the connections between canonical authors (and texts) and non-canonical and extra-literary writers (and texts), the essays reassess the power and authority that attend the acts of speaking, writing and publishing. They argue for the recognition of the specifically political aspects of Romantic texts that have often been considered too ephemeral to be classed as literature. In doing so, they call for a redefinition of the central tenets of British Romanticism .