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Literature Q2P02

A new sensibility

  • With no specific manifesto, in late 18th century a new generation of poets began
  • impersonal, eloquent (Augustan Age) โ†’ subjective, autobiographical, introspective, lyrical
  • Exploration of personal feelings and emotions provoked by the observation of nature: by describing specific scenarios, the experience is generalized and extended to discuss universal ideas (not simply aiming to create a direct impact in the viewer through sheer suggestion)
  • The industrialization greatly influenced this movement
    • People living in the city sought diversion and serenity, which only the countryside could offer
    • Humility and elements of everyday life rather than elevated subject
  • New locations described:
    • Castles, graveyards, ruins (reminds of the past)
    • Meditation on hardship and the experiences of the common folk
  • New concept of nature
    • Rather than sticking to the classics, nature was seen as a living thing
    • It's not a single and unified reality, but a multitude of individual entities given weight by a new theory
    • Nature is ever-changing and conscious
  • Distinction between beautiful and sublime
    • The latter is associated by Burke with strong emotions and physical sensations (fear/horror and intense pain) and is seen as superior in literature
    • The sublime can cause, at lower levels, admiration, reverence and respect
    • The sublime is what eventually causes astonishment โ€” an overwhelming experience involving the suspension of all changes in the soul for a brief, terrifying moment
    • The idea of terror used is adventitious: it requires making oneself familiar with peril to recognize it and develop a reaction to sublime. It doesn't just pertain to instinctive responses to fear (e.g. a snake is terrifying because you are aware it can poison and kill you, not because it's large or intuitively scary)