Spy Figure in British Radical Literature, 1790–1804

Sincerity and Coded Language

AvSteph Codsi

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

Del i serien Edinburgh Critical Studies in Romanticism

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Beskrivning

The book argues that literary authors who had initially supported the ideals of the French Revolution, became more coded and elliptical in their writing as a response to surveillance and repression in Britain in the 1790s. It shows that authors appropriated the tools of invisible state surveillance by using coded modes and methods, including pseudonymity, elision, satire, irony, innuendo, allegory and self-censorship, amongst others. These strategies were often used performatively to mock the spy figure and interrogate the encroaching culture of secrecy, silencing and suspicion; but also, as a precautionary measure to protect writers from laws against sedition and treason. Applying surveillance theory, the book provides accessible and illuminating readings of literary works by William Godwin, John Thelwall, Mary Robinson, Robert Bage, and William Blake.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-09-30
Mått:156 x 234 x undefined mm
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Edinburgh Critical Studies in Romanticism
Antal sidor:216
Förlag:Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:9781399529259

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Mer om författaren

Stephanie Codsi is a Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol. Her research focuses on the poetry of William Blake, and on radical literature of the 1790s. She is interested in the intersections between Romanticism and the Gothic, on the Revolution Controversy, and how the culture of surveillance and suspicion affected radical literature in the decade of the 1790s.

Innehållsförteckning

List of FiguresAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. ‘Truth is a libel’: The Revolution Controversy: Sincerity and Coded Language2. ‘Every key-hole is an informer’: John Thelwall’s Lecture on Spies and Informers (1794), and his Comic Ballads3. Spies, Sincerity and Narrative Power in William Godwin’s Caleb Williams (1794)4. ‘Hush, walls have ears’: French Spies and Performed Sincerity in Robert Bage’s Hermsprong (1796)5. Mary Robinson’s Radical Satire: Mimicry, Pseudonyms and The Sylphid’s ‘invisible spy’ (1799–1800)6. William Blake: The Spy on the Medway, ‘Satan’s watch-fiends’ and ‘the voice of honest indignation’ (1790–1804)ConclusionBibliographyIndex