The Poetry of the Chartist Movement

This book is a comprehensive analysis of a neglected aspect of Chartism, its poetry. Here the Chartists are documented as poet-politicians. In order to show how much this poetry can contribute to a deeper understanding of the movement, the poems are treated as literary pieces and as historical sources. Being a mass phenomenon, these poems and songs served as a vehicle of Chartism. They not only express critical insights into society, but also, and even more so, reveal the emotions and values which brought about the mass consensus.

Autorentext

Ulrike Schwab (1950) studied English philology and history and holds a PhD in English philology. She has taught British and American literature at Kassel University and produced films on visual history at the Institute of Scientific Film in Göttingen.

Inhalt

Foreword. I: The State of Research. 1. On the Subject. 2. The Echoes in Scholarship and Cultural History. 3. Reflections on the Scholarly Perspective. II: On the Lyric Activity of the Authors. 1. The Chartist and Poet. 2. The Character of the Poetry in Outline. 3. Motivation from Without and Within. 4. The Conditions of Production. 5. The Practice of Reception. III: Examinations into Chartists Poetry. 1. Guidelines of Method. 2. Realistic Poetry. 3. Political Poetry. 3.1. The Nucleus, or, the Programmatic Verse. 3.2. Satires. 3. Prison Poems. IV: Concluding Outlook on the Concept of Poetry. 1. Analytic Findings. 2. Another Approach to Chartist Language. 3. On the Problem of Literary Tradition. 4. Chartists Voices on Poetics. 5. Between the Romantic and the Victorian Era. VI: Documentation to the Poetry of the Chartist Movement. Appendix: Table of Texts. Bibliography.