Romantic sobriety : sensation, revolution, commodification, history / Orrin N.C. Wang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wang, Orrin N. C., 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Romanticism.

Senses and sensation in literature.

Marxist criticism.

Deconstruction.

Literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Literature.

Physical Description:

x, 369 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.

Summary:

Wang (English and comparative literature, U. of Maryland) explains in the introduction that in this study he considers multiple meanings of "sobriety," stating that "One can define Romanticism by its sobriety, but one can also demonstrate one's sobriety by judiciously abstaining from all that Romanticism offers." The presentation is organized in sections on periodicity, theory, and texts. Discussion involves Kant, De Man, Marx, Rousseau, Don Juan, and Jane Eyre, among other authors, thinkers, and texts. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: the sensation of romanticism

Part I: Periodicity. Romantic sobriety; Kant all lit up: romanticism, periodicity, and the catachresis of genius

Part II: Theory. De man, Marx, Rousseau, and the machine; against theory beside romanticism: mute bodies, fanatical seeing; the sensation of the signifier; ghost theory

Part III: Texts. Lyric Ritalin: time and history in Ode to the west wind; no satisfaction: high theory, cultural studies, and Don Juan; Gothic thought and surviving romanticism in Zafloya and Jane Eyre; coming attractions: Lamia and cinematic sensation

Coda. The embarrassment of romanticism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421400662

1421400669

OCLC:

682920660