French Revolution

         French Revolution

There is no doubt that the French revolution, especially the ideas that inspired revolution, had a profound influence on English romanticism in general and on the romantic poets in particular. For the sake of understanding the depth and pervasiveness of this influence, we may distinguish three phase of French revolution, each of which affected English romanticism. First, there is the doctrine phase- the age of Rosseau. Second, there is the political phase- the age of Robespierre and Danton, and thirdly, there is military phase- the age of Napoleon.

The social theories of Rosseau influenced Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge. His call for 'return to nature' influenced the above poets, but it profoundly affected doctrinaires like William Godwin, and through Godwin, Shelly. For Wordsworth it meant love of external nature and of simple way of living. For Blake it meant a rejection of the Newtonian universe and its mechanical laws. Rosseau believed that man is by nature perfect and there is no compulsion with anything, but love.b

The political phase of French revolution affected the Romantic poets. William Blake wore the red cap on the day of the revolution. Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge were also stirred to their depths in the first flush of the revolution (1789). Wordsworth records this feelings vividly:
  "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive
   But to be young was very heaven"
   Soon, however, these poets were horrified by the horror of blood flowing from the guillotine. Yet it must be remembered that the best work of both Wordsworth and Coleridge had been done in the days of their revolutionary enthusiasm.

The Napoleon phase of the rovolution had its greatest impact on Byron. His intensely egoistic nature found in Napoleons presonality, qualities to admire. Indeed he was intoxicated by Napoleon, untill he realized the moral emptiness of a restless, self-centred nature.

Western Marxism

                              Western Marxism

Western Marxism having its root in Marxism, follows a critical path through a number of writers- Lukacks, Althusser, Gramsci, Adorno, Bengamin and others.

       There are three characteristics,

a)   Its prominent culture- Thematic

b)   Its staunchly humanist view like knowledge

c)    The broad eclecticism of its conceptual equipment

Lukacks, a prolific writer, wrote Sole and Form, A Theory of Novel and his most controversial work, History and class Consciousness. The last book was a vigorous criticism of the ‘leninist party’. Later scolded by Lelin, lukacks was excommunicated.

Adorno was an intellectual leftist of the Weimar republic. The name of his book is Aesthetic Theory. He believes that all art is critical and art criticizes society. He valued modernism as the historical emancipation from her- money as an ideal. It is called dissonance.

The other western Marxism can be identified by the following key features-

a)   The neutralization of tradition,

b)   The generalization of norms and values,

c)    The broadening of the base for the exchange of opinion,

d)   The emphasis of socialization on the development of the individual.

Pre-Romantic Poetry

     ·       Pre-Romantic Poetry:

The pre-romantic poets consists of Thomas Garry. James Thomson,William Collins,William Cowper and even William Blake was a drastic departure from the Neo-Classical order and reaction against the school of Dr. Sammuel Johnson. Some of the chief feature of the pre-romantic poetry can be listed down in the fallowing manner:

a.     A sharp reation against the neo-classical form and contains of literature,

b.     Return to nature,

c.      Return to feelings and emotion,

d.     Cult of romance,

e.      Interest in middle ages and,

f.       Romantic melancholy and convictional diction.

The pre-romantic poetry reacted against the popian couplet and made an experiment in blank verse and Spenserian stanzas. James Thomson in his ‘Season’, William Cowper in his ‘The Task’, William Blake in his ‘Elegy’ picturized the various mood and sights of nature. The pre-romantic poets also retuened to feelings, strong emotion, and aspiration.

Wordsworth's definition of poetry

                    Wordsworth's definition of poetry

Wordsworth is rightly considered as greatest poet of Romantic Age, not merely due to his large number and variety of poetry but also because he is the founder-father of substantial amount of poetic theory which is the base of romantic credo. Wordsworth defines all good poetry as ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’. Wordsworth goes on to say that poetry takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. While tracing and explaining the course of poetry from its moment of origin, Wordsworth explains:

                              “The emotion is contemplated till,

                                by a species of reaction, the

                                tranquility gradually disappears, and

                                an emotion, kindred to that which was

                                the subject of contemplation,

                                is gradually produced, and does itself

                                actually exist in the mind.”

            In this mood successful composition generally begins, and in a mood similar to this, it is carried on.

            According to Wordsworth the process of creating poetry emerges through four stages:

a)     Recollection,

b)    Contemplation,

c)     Recordescence,

d)    Composition.

      Wordsworth believes that our continued influx of feelings are modified and directed by our thoughts which are indeed the representation of our past thought. In his view, sensibility is not enough to ensure a good poetry, it must be directed by calm mind.

     

       Wordsworth further observes that in the process of composing poetry mind should be in a state of enjoyment. He observes that his memory is habitually consulted, it will not only supply a poet with his most valuable materials but will also do for him best part of his work. The best illustration for Wordsworth’s poetic theory is clearly traceable in his simple poem ‘The Daffodils’.

Hegemony

Between 1929 and 1935, the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci wrote approximately thirty documents on political, social and cultural subjects. His most widely echoed concept is that of 'hegemony'. According to Gramsci, a social class achieves a predominant influence and power, not by direct and overt means but by succeeding in making its ideological views so pervasive that the subordinate classes unwittingly accept and participate in their own oppression. Hegemony is akin to ideology but is more than that. Hegemony works most effectively when the dominated accept their domination. Hegemony refers to the process- including ideology- through which the dominant classes maintain power through the consent of the people. The concept of hegemony implies an openness to negotiation and exchange as well as conflict between classes and so refashions Marxist categories to fit in a modern post industrial society. Gramsci also emphasize the role of intellectuals and opinion- makers in helping people understand how they can effect their transformation. These thoughts influenced Terry Eagleton, Fredric Jameson who argue for the power of literary culture to intervene in and transform existing economic and political arrangements and activities.

De-construction

Jacques Derrida developed de-construction, a perspective that focuses on the lack of a truth out there or at the centre to provide meaning. He showed how all western philosophical systems are dependent on a center God, the self, the unconscious but structuralism had show that the center is a fiction merely another signified that has no being beyond language. Furthur more, Derrida focuses on the binary pairs that make meaning, arguing that rather than being polar opposites each was dependent on the other for meaning and existence. He also showed how in all binaries, one of the terms was always subordinated to the other man/woman good/evil. To describe how meaning is produced, Derrida developed the term difference, meaning to differ and to defer. He focuses in particular on the binary speech/writing in which speech has been seen to provide a guarantee of subjectivity and presence in the history of philosophy and linguistics.

Marxism

Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19^th century philosopher, economist, journalist and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. Marx drew on Hegel’s philosophy, the political economy of Adam Smith, Ricardian economics and 19^th century French socialism to develop a critique of society which he claimed was both scientific and revolutionary. This critique achieved his most systematic expression in his master piece, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (Das Kapital). Georg Lukacs attempted a philosophical justification  of Bolshevism in his 1923 History and Class Consciousness and became the leading Marxist theoretician of literature, writing from the Soviet Union and his native Hungary. In Lukacs’s view realism meant more than rendering the surface appearance: it meant providing a more complete, true, vivid and dynamic view of the world around. Novels were reflections of life and therefore not real, but they nonetheless involved the mental framing that eluded photographic representation. Lukacs also adopted the Hegelian dialectic in stressing the contradictions of class struggle. Capitalism had destroyed the feudal order, replacing it by more efficient production. Social realism was also Bertolt Brecht’s detestation, and his famous technique of  “baring the device” derives from the Russian Formalist concept of defamiliarization. Brecht as a Marxist rejected a formal construction of place and was constantly attempting to unmask the disguises of an ever-devious capitalist system.