Abstract
Acknowledging Samuel Taylor Coleridge's familiarity with the photochemical experiments that would later result in the invention of photography, this paper traces how Coleridge uses the language of photographic process to critique mechanical and materialist theories of the mind in Biographia Literaria and in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Coleridge's references to the camera obscura throughout his critique of David Hartley in Biographia suggest connection between Hartleian associationism and photographic picturing that sheds light on Coleridge's dramatization of the fate of subject whose I is subordinated to the regime of the eye in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Critiquing the agent-less mind's creation of a something-nothing that is very like photograph in Coleridge's conception, the poet offers in its place an active poetic imagination capable of unfixing the dead image.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
