The Domestication of Genius
Biography and the Romantic Poet
Published on 19. November 2009
Book
Hardback
268 pages
978-0-19-957198-7 (ISBN)
Description
This is a book about the biographical afterlives of the Romantic poets and the creation of literary biography as a popular form. It focuses on the Lives of six major poets of the period: Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Felicia Hemans, and Letitia Landon, published from the 1820s, by Thomas Moore, Mary Shelley, Thomas De Quincey, and others. It situates these within the context of the development of biography as a genre from the 1780s to the 1840s. Starting with Johnson, Boswell, and female collective Lives, it looks at how the market success of biography was built on its representation and publication of domestic life. In the 1820s and 30s biographers 'domesticated' Byron, Shelley, and other poets by situating them at home, opening up their (often scandalous) private lives to view, and bringing readers into intimate contact with greatness. Biography was an influential transmitter of the myth of 'the Romantic poet', as the self-creating, masculine genius, but it also posed one of the first important challenges to that myth, by revealing failures in domestic responsibility that were often seen as indicative of these writers' inattention to the needs of the reader. The Domestication of Genius is the most comprehensive account to date of the shaping of the Romantic poets by biography in the nineteenth-century. Written in a lively and accessible style, it casts new light on the literary culture of the 1830s and the transition between Romantic and Victorian conceptions of authorship. It offers a powerful re-evaluation of Romantic literary biography, of major biographers of the period, and of the posthumous reputations of the Romantic poets.
Reviews / Votes
The Domestication of Genius is a knowledgeable, poised study that combines range and depth very successfully, There is a real fluency and coherence to North's analysis. Importantly, she treats Romantic literary biography as a significant genre in its own right and by doing so contributes significantly to our understanding of constructions of creativity and domesticity in the period * David Higgins,The Review of English Studies * covers a substantial treasure-trove of familiar and largely unexamined material... Julian North's new book is set to become a key participant * Daniel Cook, New Books Online * This is a book that should interest those who enjoy reading literary biographies * Sharon Ruston, Times Higher Education Supplement * a knowledgeable, poised study that combines range and depth very successfully * Review of English Studies * in this superbly researched and written study, North... provides the first detailed study of Romantic literary biography, indeed almost the first of Romantic biography itself... Packed equally with valuable insights and engaging gossip, North's book will find readers well beyond the literary students and faculty at whom it is primarily directed... Highly Recommended. * D. L. Patey, Choice * Julian North's new book suggests that, Barthes and his post-structuralist company notwithstanding, interest in authors and their lives continues largely unabated... North's compelling argument is reflected in her title, which reveals her book's grounding in gender studies and her particular interest in life writing, and she consequently offers some insightful new perspectives upon Romantic-era biographies. * Stephen C. Behrendt, Biography * Julian North's book is a distinguished contribution to the emerging literary-critical genre of 'biographiography'-that is, the study of the development of biographical writing * Christine Kenyon Jones, The Byron Journal * a fascinating account of the poets' defensiveness towards their biographers... By locating interest in contemporary biographies North offers a compelling case for the importance of biographical writing in forming the identities of an author, in his or her life or beyond it. * Daniel Cooke, NBOL-19 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
5 black and white halftones
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
570 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-957198-7 (9780199571987)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Julian North received her BA and D. Phil. from the University of Oxford. She is a lecturer in nineteenth-century English literature at the University of Leicester, having previously been a lecturer in the English Departments of the University of Reading and De Montfort University. She is the editor of volume 11 and co-editor of volume 20 of The Works of Thomas De Quincey, 21 volumes, General Editor, Grevel Lindop (Pickering and Chatto, 2000 -2003), and the author of De Quincey Reviewed: Thomas De Quincey's Critical Reception, 1821-1994 (Camden House/ Boydell and Brewer, 1997). She has also published on Romantic auto/biography, literary tourism, screen adaptations of the novels of Jane Austen, and nineteenth-century opium literature.
Content
INTRODUCTION ; 1. Biography and Domestic Life ; 2. Biography and the Romantic Poet ; 3. The Lives of Byron ; 4. Biography and the Shelleys ; 5. De Quincey and the Lake Poets ; 6. The Female Poet. The AfterLives of Felicia Hemans and Letitia Landon