Romantic Pasts: History, Fiction and Feeling in Britain, 1790-1850

Romantic Pasts challenges the notion that romantic-era history is solely sentimental and presents a new cognitive or psychological historicism that emphasizes motive and affect. It rethinks the paradigms of resurrection and revivification in romantic history and its place in the development of modern history by integrating literary criticism, the history of emotion, theories of the novel, and philosophies of history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 14 February 2024
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Romantic Pasts challenges the prevailing notion that romantic-era history is solely driven by sentimentality, contending that historians from Mary Wollstonecraft to Thomas Carlyle embraced a novel form of cognitive or psychological historicism. These scholars recognized the significance of emotions as a valid subject of historical inquiry, transcending their traditional role as mere sentimental or affective modes. By reimagining psycho-physiological and behavioral processes as situated and historically dynamic phenomena, they sought to understand how these processes could reflect changes in social and historical contexts. This interdisciplinary work integrates literary criticism, the history of emotion, theories of the novel, and philosophies of history to reexamine the paradigms of resurrection and revivification that have come to define romantic history. It also explores the evolving place of history within the broader context of modern history. Through a comprehensive examination of the writings of influential scholars, Romantic Pasts offers a fresh perspective on the complexities and nuances of the romantic era, shedding light on the ways in which emotions shaped historical narratives and contributed to the development of modern historical thought.

Weight: 478g
Dimension: 156 x 235 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474481892