Between 1838 and 1852, the leading Chartist newspaper, the Northern Star, published over 1,000 poems written by more than 350 poets - as the readership of the Northern Star numbered hundreds of thousands, these poems were amongst the most widely read of the Victorian era. Why did the writing and reading of poetry play such an important role in Chartism's struggle to secure fundamental democratic rights? This first ever full-length study of the Northern Star's poetry column analyses the interplay between politics, aesthetics and history in the aftermath of the Newport Insurrection (1839), during the mass strikes of 1842 and the year of European Revolutions (1848). Mike Sanders transforms our understanding of Chartism and its place in the history of Victorian literature and ideas.
• Transforms our understanding of Chartism by analysing the role played by poetry published in the leading Chartist newspaper the Northern Star • Includes detailed literary analysis of individual Chartist poems, situated within their specific historical context • Contains a complete publication record of the Northern Star's poetry column
Contents
Introduction; 1. The Chartist imaginary: 'talking by turns of politics and poetry'; 2. Chartist poetry and literary history; 3. 'A jackass load of poetry': The Northern Star's poetry column 1838–1852; 4. Insurrectionary sonnets: the ideological afterlife of the Newport uprising; 5. 'Merry England': memory and nostalgia in the year of the mass strike; 6. 'The future-hastening storm': Chartist poetry in 1848; 7. Constellating Chartist poetry: Gerald Massey, Walter Benjamin and the uses of messianism; Appendix A: three Chartist poems; Appendix B: details of poetry published in the poetry column of the Northern Star.
Review
'Mike Sanders has produced an important study of the Northern Star's poetry column with a complete list of all the poems published. … This volume must now be recognised as the leading study of Chartist poetry available to historians. Its subtle linkage of literature, aesthetics and history provides a clear contextual setting for examining the written word and makes one realise why Plato contended that poetry could be harmful.' The Historical Association
Printer friendly version
Email a colleague