Romantic Writing and the Empire of Signs

Nineteenth-century periodicals frequently compared themselves tothe imperial powers then dissecting the globe, and this interest in imperialism canbe seen in the exotic motifs that surfaced in works by such late Romantic authors asJohn Keats, Charles Lamb, James Hogg, Letitia Landon, and Lord Byron. Karen Fangexplores the collaboration of these authors with periodical magazines to show how aninterdependent relationship between these visual themes and rhetorical style enabledthese authors to model their writing on the imperial project.Fangargues that in the decades after Waterloo late Romantic authors used imperialculture to capitalize on the contemporary explosion of periodical magazines. Thisboom of "post-Napoleonic" writing--often referencing exotic locales--both reviseslongstanding notions about literary orientalism and reveals a remarkable synthesisof Romantic idealism with contemporary cultural materialism that heretofore has notbeen explored. Indeed, in interlocking case studies that span the reach of Britishconquest, ranging from Greece, China, and Egypt to Italy and Tahiti, Fang challengesa major convention of periodical publication. While periodicals are usually thoughtto be defined by time, this account of the geographic attention exerted by lateRomantic authors shows them to be equally concerned with space.Withits exploration of magazines and imperialism as a context for Romantic writing,culture, and aesthetics, this book will appeal not only to scholars of book historyand reading cultures but also to those of nineteenth-century British writing andhistory.