The shipwreck narrative was a popular and prolific, if now largely forgotten, branch of Romantic-era print culture. Yet there are many fascinating and deeply moving accounts to be found in this voluminous literature. And just as importantly, the genre also offers a wealth of insights into a broad range of current academic debates. It was no accident or quirk of literary taste that shipwreck narratives were so popular in the Romantic period: they were compelling reading because in diverse ways they touched on some of the most important issues of the day. For a nation like Britain where military and economic power and even cultural identity were predicated on maritime prowess, shipwrecks were profoundly troubling events.

Detailed Description

The shipwreck narrative was a popular and prolific, if now largely forgotten, branch of Romantic-era print culture. Yet there are many fascinating and deeply moving accounts to be found in this voluminous literature. And just as importantly, the genre also offers a wealth of insights into a broad range of current academic debates. It was no accident or quirk of literary taste that shipwreck narratives were so popular in the Romantic period: they were compelling reading because in diverse ways they touched on some of the most important issues of the day. For a nation like Britain where military and economic power and even cultural identity were predicated on maritime prowess, shipwrecks were profoundly troubling events.

In shipwreck narratives a maritime culture had to confront and negotiate with its grreatest nightmare, so that these narratives possess a complex ideological dimension. As a result, the genre has much to tell us about the construction of British identity in this period, while shedding equally valuable light on British attitudes to a range of cultural 'Others', and the mechanisms by which images of such 'Others' were fashioned and disseminated.

Shipwreck narratives also provide a fascinating new perspective on topics as diverse as Romantic-era popular culture, the sublime, sentimentalism and sensationalism, popular representations of the sailor, the literature of religious and moral improvement, and travel writing.

PLEASE CONTACT TRENT EDITIONS ON   tel: +44 (0)115 848 3202 or by email to [email protected]