Romantic Literature and Colonialism

Abstract

Current critical approaches to Romantic literature recognise the formative influence of historical and political developments on its creation. This article contributes to this understanding by focusing on British colonialism of the period from 1780 to 1830, in order to illustrate the relationship between these events and the writing which emerged from that context. The texts discussed include a wider variety of different forms of literary engagement with colonialism, and therefore a broader interpretation of Romantic literature than it is conventionally accorded. Travel narratives, missionary accounts, journalism and reports written to encourage settlement, as well as novels and poetry are all considered. Suggestions for further reading, particularly secondary works that discuss specific geographical regions in more detail, are provided in the Works Cited.