British romanticism in European perspective

About this book

"This collection asks what British Romanticism looks like in the context of European literature, history and culture. Romanticism is at the root of modern European nationalism. The Romantic idea of national character contributes to the tendency to study national Romanticisms in isolation, despite the cosmopolitan international circulation also essential to the movement. Britain's complex identity as island, United Kingdom, and European nation highlights the ways the forces of separatism and unity, nationalism and internationalism work in constant tension in the understanding of nation that has grown from Romanticism. The character, and the dating, of Romanticism alter when perceived from different national and generic perspectives. The essays here range from poetry and the novel to science writing, philosophy, visual art, opera and melodrama, placing British Romanticism in relation to other European traditions, from France and Germany to Italy and Bosnia"--