From The Russian Fugitive to The Ballad of Bulgarie: Episodes in English Literary Attitudes to Russia from Wordsworth to Swinburne (Anglo-Russian Affinities) [Hardcover]

Patrick Waddington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0854968601 | ISBN-13: 978-0854968602

In September 1849, at Rydal Mount near Grasmere, a ginger-headed Eton schoolboy talked of poetry with England's laureate. The one was born in 1770; the other died in 1909. The entire 19th century, and more, is spanned by the careers of Wordsworth and Swinburne. During this time Britain came to be Europe's leading power, but only at the cost of increased insularity and imperialism. Rival nations were not easily tolerated. The Russian empire in particular was achieving a different but parallel rise to that of Britain and in some respects had already outstripped it in the later stages of the period. An increasing interest in, involvement with, and detestation and fear of Russia was apparent among the British and found echoes in English literature. The many novels of the time hinted at this; but it was the great poets who actually took Russian or related subjects and best reflected national moods. In their different ways, Tennyson, Robert Browning and the Rossettis showed curiosity, anger and contempt in relation to Imperial Russian motives and ambitions and the related poems of each are discussed in this volume. From the unpolitical curiosity of Wordsworth in his "Russian Fugitive" to Swinburne's blatant anti-Russian stand in "The Ballad of Bulgarie" lies a graduated development which matches changing policy and attitudes in Britain.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a sociable narrative, documenting in detail literary exchanges between the two rival empires. It elucidates the roots of national political feeling in Britain, and also the vast change in literary attitude to Russia which occurred when Bloomsbury discovered the Russian novel. It is the fifth in the valuable series, Anglo-Russian Affinities, edited by Anthony Cross." --Times Literary Supplement

"... Waddington's study meticulously charts the contours of one side of the curious, lopsided relationship between Great Britain and Russia." --Journal of European Studies

"Part literary history, part 'curiosity of literature", part close reading, this is a memorable and unusual book, meticulously researched and elegantly written." --New Zealand Slavonic Journal

"Patrick Waddington's study is a potential gold-mine for scholars interested in any possible points of intersection between a selected group of nineteenth-century English writers and Russia". --Irish Slavonic Studies

About the Author

Patrick Waddington is an Emeritus Professor of Russian Literature, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berg Publishers (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0854968601
• ISBN-13: 978-0854968602
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,427,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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