Romanticism, republicanism, and the Swiss myth / Patrick Vincent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vincent, Patrick H., author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 138.

Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 138

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--18th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

English literature--19th century--History and criticism.

Romanticism--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Romanticism.

Romanticism--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Republicanism--Great Britain--History.

Republicanism.

Liberalism--Great Britain--History.

Liberalism.

Political culture--Switzerland.

Political culture.

National characteristics, Swiss.

Switzerland--In literature.

Switzerland.

Switzerland--Foreign public opinion, British.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 308 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

The first detailed treatment of Switzerland in British literature and culture from Joseph Addison to John Ruskin, this book analyzes the aesthetic and political uses of what is commonly called the 'Swiss myth' in the parallel development of Romanticism and liberalism. The myth merged the country's legends going back to the Middle Ages with the Enlightenment image of a happy, free nation of alpine shepherds. Its unique combination of conservative, progressive, and radical associations enabled writers before the French Revolution to call for democratic reforms, whereas those coming after could refigure it as a conservative alternative to French liberté. Integrating intellectual history with literary studies, and addressing a wide range of Romantic-period texts and authors, among them Byron, the Shelleys, Hemans, Scott, Coleridge, and, above all, Wordsworth, the book argues that the myth contributed to the liberal idea of the people as a sublime yet sleeping sovereign.

Contents:

'Not / A pastoral fable': Republicanism, Liberalism, and the Swiss Myth

Comparative Republicanisms: The Swiss Myth in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Revising Republicanism: Revolutionary Period Travel Writing on Switzerland

Switzerland No More: 1798 and the Romantic Imagination

Switzerland in Miniature: Wordsworth's 'Visionary Mountain Republic'

Restoration Republicanism: The Swiss Myth after 1815

Coda: John Ruskin's Switzerland.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Dec 2022).

ISBN:

1-009-21027-0

1-009-21031-9

1-009-21026-2