'Byron and the Forms of Thought' is a major new study of Byron as a poet and thinker. While informed by recent work on Byron's philosophical contexts it sharply diverges from previous methodological assumptions to break new ground. Rather than...
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Hochschule der Polizei des Landes Brandenburg, Hochschulbibliothek
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'Byron and the Forms of Thought' is a major new study of Byron as a poet and thinker. While informed by recent work on Byron's philosophical contexts it sharply diverges from previous methodological assumptions to break new ground. Rather than attempting to re-describe Byron as a philosopher of a particular sort, the book draws attention to the ways in which Byron's poetry understands and explores its own 'philosophical' agency. 'Byron and the forms of thought' is a major new study of Byron as a poet and thinker. While informed by recent work on Byron's philosophical contexts, the book questions attempts to describe Byron as a philosopher of a particular kind. It approaches Byron, rather, as a writer fascinated by the different ways of thinking philosophy and poetry are taken to represent. After an Introduction that explores Byron's reception as a thinker, the book moves to a new reading of Byron's scepticism, arguing for a close proximity, in Byron's thought, between epistemology and poetics. This is explored through readings of Byron's efforts both as a philosophical poet and writer of critical prose. The conclusions reached form the basis of an extended reading of 'Don Juan' as a critical narrative that investigates connections between visionary and political consciousness. What emerges is a deeply thoughtful poet intrigued and exercised by the possibilities of literary form. -- Publisher's description.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-189) and index.
Part 1. Philosophy. Essay I . 'I doubt if doubt itself be doubting' : scepticism, system and poetry -- Essay II. A 'voice from out the wilderness' : Cain and philosophical poetry -- Part 2. Poetics. Essay III. The need for 'all this' : Johnson, Bowles and the forms of prose -- Essay IV. 'I wish to do as much by Poesy' : amidst a Byronic poetics -- Part 3. Outlines. Essay V. The flower and the gem : narrative form and the traces of Eden -- Essay VI. 'Glory's dream unriddled' : politics and the forms of war.
