Description

Despite the burgeoning popularity of fantasy fiction and the increasing recognition of its spiritual significance and subversive effects, criticism of Romantic literature has often dismissed elements of the fantastic in the work of such canonical writers as Byron and Keats as matters of escapism, false-consciousness or wish-fulfilment. In Romantic Enchantment, Gavin Hopps challenges this view and offers an alternative 'post-nihilistic' reading of the fantastic gestures and transcendent aspirations of Romantic poetry. Drawing on the seminal reflections of George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien on fantasy as well as a range of theological writing on aesthetics, this interdisciplinary study provides a provocative riposte to materialist interpretations of Romantic writing.