Shelley and Peterloo : radical, nationalist and balladeer

In May 1820 Shelley wrote to Leigh Hunt concerning the publication of "a littlevolume of popular songs, wholly political". This request met with failure andthe "little volume" was never published. It is the contention of this thesis thateleven of Shelley's poems written between September 1819 and July 1820would have formed part, if not the entirety, of this intended volume. Inspireddirectly by Peterloo, these poems are unique within Shelley's oeuvre throughtheir evocation of a populist radical discourse. Although much has beenwritten in the past thirty years on his radicalism, through an examination of the"popular songs", some of which have been critically ignored, this thesisextends critical understanding of Shelley by presenting him as a nationalistand a balladeer. Shelley's awareness of how genre locates texts within aparticular discourse together with his innovative use of genre in these poemsinforms the methodology and structure of this thesis.The first chapter considers Shelley's elegies on Ireland written between1810 and 1813. They display his increasing awareness of how poetry and aradical nationalist sentiment can be enhanced through the use of a specificgenre and are therefore instrumental to the approach adopted by Shelley inthe poems of 1819. The second chapter traces the emergent interest inantiquarianism in the eighteenth century and the appropriation of the balladand the indigenous English culture from which it came by both radicals andconservatives. The subsequent chapters focus on the "popular songs"demonstrating how, through a myriad of textual dialogues, these ballads,songs, sonnets and odes unashamedly appropriate style and language fromother media, including graphic satire, whilst simultaneously pushing generic and ideological boundaries. By placing these poems within a wider radicaldiscourse, this thesis aims to broaden awareness of Shelley's poeticalachievements, resulting in a readjustment of critical focus.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral (Level 8)

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Morgan, AJ

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1338329

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1338329