Reading with John Clare

Biopoetics, Sovereignty, Romanticism

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Poetry History & Criticism, British, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political
Cover of the book Reading with John Clare by Sara Guyer, Fordham University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sara Guyer ISBN: 9780823265596
Publisher: Fordham University Press Publication: May 1, 2015
Imprint: Fordham University Press Language: English
Author: Sara Guyer
ISBN: 9780823265596
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Publication: May 1, 2015
Imprint: Fordham University Press
Language: English

Reading with John Clare argues that at the heart of contemporary biopolitical thinking is an insistent repression of poetry. By returning to the moment at which biopolitics is said to emerge simultaneously with romanticism, this project renews our understanding of the operations of contemporary politics and its relation to aesthetics across two centuries.

Guyer focuses on a single, exemplary case: the poetry and autobiographical writing of the British poet John Clare (1793–1864). Reading Clare in combination with contemporary theories of biopolitics, Guyer reinterprets romanticism’s political legacies, specifically the belief that romanticism is a direct precursor to the violent nationalisms and redemptive environmentalisms of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Guyer offers an alternative account of many of romanticism’s foundational concepts, like home, genius, creativity, and organicism. She shows that contemporary critical theories of biopolitics, despite repeatedly dismissing the aesthetic or poetic dimensions of power as a culpable ideology, emerge within the same rhetorical tradition as the romanticism they denounce. The book thus compels a rethinking of the biopolitical critique of poetry and an attendant reconsideration of romanticism and its concepts.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Reading with John Clare argues that at the heart of contemporary biopolitical thinking is an insistent repression of poetry. By returning to the moment at which biopolitics is said to emerge simultaneously with romanticism, this project renews our understanding of the operations of contemporary politics and its relation to aesthetics across two centuries.

Guyer focuses on a single, exemplary case: the poetry and autobiographical writing of the British poet John Clare (1793–1864). Reading Clare in combination with contemporary theories of biopolitics, Guyer reinterprets romanticism’s political legacies, specifically the belief that romanticism is a direct precursor to the violent nationalisms and redemptive environmentalisms of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Guyer offers an alternative account of many of romanticism’s foundational concepts, like home, genius, creativity, and organicism. She shows that contemporary critical theories of biopolitics, despite repeatedly dismissing the aesthetic or poetic dimensions of power as a culpable ideology, emerge within the same rhetorical tradition as the romanticism they denounce. The book thus compels a rethinking of the biopolitical critique of poetry and an attendant reconsideration of romanticism and its concepts.

More books from Fordham University Press

Cover of the book Reading Descartes Otherwise by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Angels of Mercy by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Light and Death by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book All Ears by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book The Retreats of Reconstruction by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Classical New York by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book History and Hope by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Intentionality, Cognition, and Mental Representation in Medieval Philosophy by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book The Rigor of Things by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Common Things by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Common Goods by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Nostalgia by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Teaching While Black by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Dante and the Origins of Italian Literary Culture by Sara Guyer
Cover of the book Philosophical Chronicles by Sara Guyer
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy