Romanticism and the Human Sciences: Poetry, Population, and the Discourse of the Species

Cambridge University Press, 2000, 2006

This innovative study examines the dialogue between British Romantic poetry and the human sciences of the period. Maureen McLane reveals how Romantic writers participated in a new-found consciousness of human beings as a species, engaging with major discourses on moral philosophy, political economy and anthropology by preeminent theorists such as Malthus, Godwin and Burke. The book provides original readings of canonical works, including Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, and has much to say about the place of Romantic poetry within its culture.

Praise

"Romanticism and the Human Sciences offers fresh perspectives on canonical texts and ultimately seeks to sketch a position that both recontextualizes romantic arguments and remains sensitive to how those arguments themselves test the boundaries of any merely contextual reading. In raising far-reaching questions with seriousness and candor, it does not shy away from the very real difficulties of its subject, and it makes a compelling case that the challenge posed by romanticism to today's readers--whether humanist, anti-humanist, or none of the above--remains as potent and problematic as ever." –Deborah Elise White, Emory University, Studies in Romanticism

"a thought-provoking reflection on the value of Romantic literature... a valuable contribution to our understanding of the period. [McLane] demonstrates that the new ways of understanding human beings in society, the new modes of calculating human worth, envisioning human possibility, and quantifying human lives exerted a powerful influence on Romantic writing." –Romanticism on the Net

"Intriguing....the overall quetion of the connection between literature and anthropology during the Romantic age proves to be very fertile ground for elaborate and detailed discussions of both literary and theoretical texts of that period."
–Variations

"Her [McLane's] readings of individual works are...frequently brilliant..." –Albion

"A book of wide scope and intellectual ambition." –RedNova News