Using as his starting point the historical notion that poets may be, at least in moments of inspiration, "out of their senses," Frederick Burwick here explores the theoretical implications of inspiration as furor poeticus, particularly as that concept was presented during the latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Drawing on social and medical attitudes toward madness and the so-called poetic rapture, Burwick addresses the appeal to poetic madness in critical theory, the thematization of the mad poet in literature, and the reception of mad poets.
With a mad king...
Using as his starting point the historical notion that poets may be, at least in moments of inspiration, "out of their senses," Frederick Burwick h...
Burwick examines the debate over illusion from Johnson to Coleridge in England, Diderot to Stendhal in France, and Lessing to A. W. Schlegel in Germany.
Although few critics still define illusion in contrast to reality, the essential distinction is between illusion as perceived reality and as hallucination or delusion. The concept of illusion as debated in contemporary critical theory has been shaped by developments that took place during the transition from Enlightenment to Romantic thought. Burwick provides a commentary on illusion in contemporary criticism, emphasizing the ways in...
Burwick examines the debate over illusion from Johnson to Coleridge in England, Diderot to Stendhal in France, and Lessing to A. W. Schlegel in Ger...
In Romantic theories of art and literature, the notion of mimesis--defined as art's reflection of the external world--became introspective and self-reflexive as poets and artists sought to represent the act of creativity itself. Frederick Burwick seeks to elucidate this Romantic aesthetic, first by offering an understanding of key Romantic mimetic concepts and then by analyzing manifestations of the mimetic process in literary works of the period.
Burwick explores the mimetic concepts of "art for art's sake," "Idem et Alter," and "palingenesis of mind as art" by drawing on the...
In Romantic theories of art and literature, the notion of mimesis--defined as art's reflection of the external world--became introspective and self...
Frederick Burwick's modest but comprehensive and insightful intro- duction is preface enough to these sensible essays in the history and philosophical criticism of ideas. If we want to understand how some in- quiring and intelligent thinkers sought to go beyond mechanism and vitalism, we will find Burwick's labors of assembling others and reflect- ing on his own part to be as stimulating as anywhere to be found. And yet his initial cautious remark is right: 'approaches', not 'attainments'. The problems associated with clarifying 'matter' and 'form' are still beyond any consensus as to their...
Frederick Burwick's modest but comprehensive and insightful intro- duction is preface enough to these sensible essays in the history and philosophical...
This book examines what De Quincey called 'psychological criticism', a mode of studying how 'literature of power' arouses ideas and images dormant in the subconscious. He explores this 'power' by means of an introspective analysis of the effects produced in his own mind by reading Shakespeare and Milton, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Discussion of De Quincey's critical and narrative prose includes his skilled rewriting of a German forgery of a Waverly novel, as well as such better known works as 'Suspiria de Profundis, ' Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts.' 'On the Knocking at the Gate in...
This book examines what De Quincey called 'psychological criticism', a mode of studying how 'literature of power' arouses ideas and images dormant in ...
A practical and comprehensive reference work, the Oxford Handbook provides the best single-volume source of original scholarship on all aspects of Coleridge's diverse writings. Thirty-seven chapters, bringing together the wisdome of experts from across the world, present an authoritative, in-depth, and up-to-date assessment of a major author of British Romanticism. The book is divided into sections on Biography, Prose Works, Poetic Works, Sources and Influences, and Reception. The Coleridge scholar today has ready access to a range of materials previously available only in library...
A practical and comprehensive reference work, the Oxford Handbook provides the best single-volume source of original scholarship on all aspects of Col...
Drama in the Romantic period underwent radical changes affecting theatre performance, acting, and audience. Theatres were rebuilt and expanded to accommodate larger audiences, and consequently acting styles and the plays themselves evolved to meet the expectations of the new audiences. This book examines manifestations of change in acting, stage design, setting, and the new forms of drama. Actors exercised a persistent habit of stepping out of their roles, whether scripted or not. Burwick traces the radical shifts in acting style from Garrick to Kemble and Siddons, and to Kean and Macready,...
Drama in the Romantic period underwent radical changes affecting theatre performance, acting, and audience. Theatres were rebuilt and expanded to acco...
The Modernist movement has been regarded as representing a crisis point in Western thought. This volume looks at that crisis in terms of its reinterpretation of ideas concerning vitalism: the animation of the universe, whether spiritual or based in physical energies, of the universe. Beginning with vitalism's historical background in the enlightenment and the nineteenth century, and moving through scientific, philosophical and literary disciplines, the contributors chart the progress of vitalism and its influence on modernist thought. The focal point is the work of Henri Bergson, whose part...
The Modernist movement has been regarded as representing a crisis point in Western thought. This volume looks at that crisis in terms of its reinterpr...
