The Revolution in Popular Literature Print, Politics and the People, 17901860 [Hardcover]

This book takes a new look at the evolution of popular literature in Britain in the Romantic and Victorian periods.This book takes a new look at the evolution of popular literature in Britain in the Romantic and Victorian periods. Making use of a wide range of archival and primary sources, he argues that radical politics played a decisive role in the transformation of popular literature. By charting the key moments in the history of 'cheap' literature, the book casts new light on the many neglected popular genres and texts: the 'pig's meat' anthology, the female-authored didactic tale, and Chartist fiction.This book takes a new look at the evolution of popular literature in Britain in the Romantic and Victorian periods. Making use of a wide range of archival and primary sources, he argues that radical politics played a decisive role in the transformation of popular literature. By charting the key moments in the history of 'cheap' literature, the book casts new light on the many neglected popular genres and texts: the 'pig's meat' anthology, the female-authored didactic tale, and Chartist fiction.This survey of the evolution of British popular literature during the Romantic and Victorian periods relies on a broad range of archival and primary sources. Arguing that radical politics played a decisive role in the transformation of popular literature, Ian Haywood charts key moments in the history of cheap literature. The book accordingly casts new light on many neglected popular genres and texts: the pig's meat anthology, the female-authored didactic tale, and Chartist fiction.Illustrations; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. 'A New Area in Our History': 1. The people's Enlightenment: the radical diffusion of knowledge in the late eighteenth century; 2. Writing for their country: the plebeian public sphere in the 1790s; 3. The pax femina? Hannah More, counter-revolution, and the politics of female agency; Part II. 'Virtuous Public Excitement': 4. The Palladium of ll#