Matthew Arnold was one of the nineteenth century's greatest spokesmen for the saving power of culture, especially of poetry, to substitute for a vanishing religion. Yet he was persistently troubled throughout his career by the difficulty of finding adequate authority in language. Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language explores Arnold's attempts to find an authoritative language, and argues that his occasional claims for such a language reveal more uneasiness than confidence in the value of ""letters."" It examines Arnold's poetry within this context and demonstrates that his various experiments - to speak in oracular voice, to use classic forms, to achieve a grand style - and their failures, reflect the inevitable difficulties facing any poet in an age of intellectual and cultural upheaval. Riede argues that Arnold's determined efforts to write with authority, combined with his deep-seated suspicion of his medium, result in an exciting if often agonized tension in his poetic language - a language that strains against its inevitable but generally unacknowledged limitations.
| ISBN: | 9780813935805 |
| Publication date: | 30th May 2015 |
| Author: | David G Riede |
| Publisher: | University of Virginia Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 254 pages |
| Series: | Victorian Literature and Culture Series |
| Genres: |
History and Archaeology Cultural studies Sociology |
Matthew Arnold was one of the nineteenth century's greatest spokesmen for the saving power of culture, especially of poetry, to substitute for a vanishing religion. Yet he was persistently troubled throughout his career by the difficulty of finding adequate authority in language. Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language explores Arnold's attempts to find an authoritative language, and argues that his occasional claims for such a language reveal more uneasiness than confidence in the value of ""letters."" It examines Arnold's poetry within this context and demonstrates that his various experiments - to speak in oracular voice, to use classic forms, to achieve a grand style - and their failures, reflect the inevitable difficulties facing any poet in an age of intellectual and cultural upheaval. Riede argues that Arnold's determined efforts to write with authority, combined with his deep-seated suspicion of his medium, result in an exciting if often agonized tension in his poetic language - a language that strains against its inevitable but generally unacknowledged limitations.
Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language features in the following genres: History and Archaeology, Cultural studies, Sociology
Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language is available in Paperback, Hardback
Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language was written by David G Riede and published by University of Virginia Press
Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language has 254 pages
Yes it is part of Victorian Literature and Culture Series series