How did Britons understand their relationship with the East in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? James Watt's new study remaps the literary history of British Orientalisms between 1759, the 'year of victories' in the Seven Years' War, and 1835, when T. B. Macaulay published his polemical 'Minute on Indian Education'. It explores the impact of the war on Britons' cultural horizons, and the different and shifting ways in which Britons conceived of themselves and their nation as 'open' to the East across this period. Considering the emergence of new forms and styles of writing in the context of an age of empire and revolution, Watt examines how the familiar 'Eastern' fictions of the past were adapted, reworked, and reacted against. In doing so he illuminates the larger cultural conflict which animated a nation debating with itself about its place in the world and relation to its others.
- Sheds new light on the cultural relationship between Britain and the East in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
- Recovers little known literary texts and considers them in dialogue with canonical texts
- Provides a more nuanced exploration of the idea of 'openness' to the East in an age of Empire and Revolution
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Reviews & endorsements
'A bibliography of primary and secondary sources and an index round out this densely informative literary history.' W. L. Svitavsky, Choice
'… with its original and thoughtfully curated bibliography of orientalist writings during the reign of George III and after, Watt's book makes a laudable contribution to postcolonialist literary history.' Gillen D'Arcy Wood, Review 19
'James Watt's astute, erudite, and wide-ranging survey of both literature and theory across a long-durée view of Romanticism does yeoman work in the field.' Daniel Sanjiv Roberts, European Romantic Review
'British Orientalisms helps to explain the complexities of responses to empire and dismantle recent narratives that are driven more by present-day politics than evidence.' Alexander Adams, alexanderadamsart
'… I can't imagine writing about or teaching any of the numerous works discussed in this book without seriously considering and engaging with Watt's careful and insightful readings. This is a valuable book that will inform undergraduate and graduate courses, generate doctoral dissertations, and expand and deepen our understanding of British representations of the East from the Seven Years' War to Macaulay's 'Minute' of 1835.' Daniel E. White, The Wordsworth Circle
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Product details
- Date Published: May 2019
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781108472661
- length: 300 pages
- dimensions: 235 x 158 x 19 mm
- weight: 0.6kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction: Britain, Empire, and 'openness' to the East
1. 'Those islanders': British orientalisms and the Seven Years' War
2. 'Indian details': fictions of British India, 1774–1789
3. 'All Asia is covered in prisons': oriental despotism and British liberty in an age of revolutions
4. 'In love with the Gopia': Sir William Jones and his contemporaries
5. 'Imperial dotage' and poetic ornament in romantic orientalist verse narrative
6. Cockney translation: Leigh Hunt and Charles Lamb's eastern imaginings
7. 'It is otherwise in Asia': 'character' and improvement in picaresque fiction
Conclusion: British orientalisms, Empire, and improvement
Bibliography
Index.
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Author
James Watt, University of York
James Watt is a former Director of the University of York's interdisciplinary Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies. His previous publications include Contesting the Gothic: Fiction, Genre, and Cultural Conflict, 1764-1832 (Cambridge, 1999), and an edition of Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron (2003). He has published numerous essays and articles in edited collections and in journals including Eighteenth Century Life and The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation.