Romantic Prose Fiction by Gerald Gillespie , Manfred Engel , Bernard Dieterle (review)

Abstract

320 Reviews The letters tellthestory of howRuskin gradually madeovertherunning, management , and evenownership of Brantwood toJoannaand herhusband Arthur Severn. 'Letters from Ruskin toJoanhaveonlypreviously beenpublished as excerpts and are not generally availableforresearch'(p. 4). The editorsof theLibraryEditionof Ruskin's works included onlya handful of theseletters, and theyfailedto keepthe idiolect, perhaps outofconcern for Ruskin's reputation. Thisreviewer, likeDickinson, finds theletters endearing rather thanembarrassing. Forinstance, Ruskin writes that he'wants hisdimatotakecareofhismoney for him' (p.215).He asks Joannato'please[. . .] beginkeeping mypockywocky money fornext year'(p.217).In Letter 210hesigns off: 'Me's oospoo oldDonie- ' (p.223).In Letter 206heshows hispoeticside: Ohdima,ifI only could build 00a palace with diamond windows andgolden doors, andput on a story [sic] every birth day, asthe shells dointhe sea,andfill itwith music like the seashells. and have my dimatosing tomeupatthe top. (p.218) Ruskin asks Joanna:'fot soodvehavedonetounderstand eachovyifvee'dnevy learnt babytawk?' (p.214). With its'Idiolectical Glossary' anda Chronology, this volume ofletters maybe seen tocontribute towhatone maycallRuskin's 'autobiography', including comments on painting, onfigures, someofthem public ones,andontheevents ofhisownlife. Rachel Dickinson has therefore performed an unusual,useful, and interesting service. The letters shedlighton Ruskin's ownpersonality and psychology, and on howhe saw himself. He insisted that noneofhisletters toJoannabe destroyed, which suggests that he mayhaveconsidered themtobe a partof his'autobiography', tocomplement or supplement whatDickinson describes as the'crafted andcensored' Praeterita. King'sCollege London WilliamGoldman Romantic Prose Fiction. EditedbyGerald Gillespie,ManfredEngel, and Bernard Dieterle. A Comparative History of Literatures in EuropeanLanguages,23. Amsterdam andPhiladelphia: Benjamins. 2007.xxi+ 733pp.€198.00; US$297.00. isbn:978-90-272-3456-8. Collections ofessays dealing with European Romantic culture facesomething ofa challenge :thetopicisdifficult tomap,thedatesoftheso-called 'period'aredisputed and inconstant flux, andthe'movement' continually crosses linguistic, generic, anddisciplinary borders. Asa result, suchvolumes canfallintooneoftwotraps: either they seek toencompass broader trends andendup lacking inclosetextual readings, orthey are sosharply focused that they maybe oflimited appealtomoregeneral readers. Atover 700pages,this volume ofthirty-six essays, together with an Introduction andConclusion ,is morethancomprehensive and makesa goodattempt at circumventing such pitfalls. The fact that thecollection belongs toanintegrated sub-series - theothers are dedicated toRomantic irony, drama, poetry, andnon-fictional prose- helpstoensure that nosingle volume takes ontoomuch. The collection openswith lengthy editorial deliberations, which track thegenesis of theprojectthatgave riseto thevolumeand also,moreusefully, offer conceptual YES, 40.1 & 2, 2010 321 reflections on thesub-series, theposition of thevolumewithin it,and therationale behindthebook'sinternal organization. The essaysare dividedintothreesections, dealing with Romantic prosethemes, thebroadnotion ofparadigms (including representative texts, issues ofgenre, andnarrative technique), andthelaternineteenthand twentieth-century reception of Romantic proseanditsinfluence on laterthought and writing. Throughout thesesections thediscussions traverse the Romanticproseof Germany, France, andEngland, although they alsochart thelegacy left bythis writing inScandinavia, Spain,LatinAmerica, andJapan.Similarly diverse isthetreatment of other mediaanddiscourses, or, more precisely, their intersection with thegenres, themes, andtechniques ofprose, suchas MihálySzegedy-Maszák's study ofrepresentations of the'sister arts'ofmusic andpainting inRomantic prose.Setagainst this richbackdrop are theessaysone might expect, although theyremainessential: thereare thematic contributions, suchas Gerhart Hoffmeister's analysis of howinternational Romantic prosetreats explicitly (Victor Hugo)andimplicitly (Goethe) theprogression andfailure of theFrench Revolution; and MonikaSchmitz-Emans's discussion of theirrational realms of madnessand dream,whichshowshowRomantic prosedealingwithsuch issues laidthefoundations ofkeyaspects of modern thought andwriting, suchas the rejection of'anysuperior levelofreasoning from which onecoulddistinguish between truth andlies'(p.165). Therearegeneric studies, suchasManfred Engel'sremarkably clearandlinear study ofthelabyrinthine genre oftheBildungsroman, andalsolessobvious discussions, suchas GeraldGillespie's treatment ofthecrime novel:whilecrime inliterature was'nothing new',Romantic proseinSpain,England, andelsewhere becametheforum for'a new genre inwhich crime fighters andcrime solvers werecentral' (p.345).Thevolume's third section is particularly illuminating, as shownbyElaineMartin's study of cinematic makesand re-makes of Romantic literary works, and Takayuki Yokota-Murakami's discussion of thecomplex reception and influence of EuropeanRomantic writing in Japan,characterized bybothenthusiasm andrejection, as thatnation openeditself to Western culture inthecourseofthenineteenth century. Sucha wideandinternational focus tiesinwiththeeditors' aims.AstheConclusion states, thevolume doesnotseek toimply that readings ofRomanticism as expressions ofnational experience arewholly irrelevant orevenspurious; rather, itsintention isto'explore strands ofliterary experiencethat often werecommon ona larger regional scale'(p.700). The texts arelucid, readable, andcontain valuablecontributions that simultaneously offer anoverview oftheir material, drawtogether important threads ofscholarship, and re-frame discussions infresh contexts. SabineRossbach, forexample, offers a fascinating sweepof the notionof 'mirroring' in English,GermanRomanticand postRomantic proseembracing E. T. A. Hoffman, Coleridge, and Poe: whilst...