Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-223) and index.
Contents
Nationality, individuality, and defamiliarization -- The line of progress: Blake's Laocoon and classicist theories of art -- "Whence came they": contesting national narrative -- "How different the world to them": revolutionary heterogeneity and alienation -- "And none shall gather the leaves": unbinding the voice in America and Europe -- "A state about to be created": modeling the nation in Milton -- "Artfully propagated": hybridity, disease, and the transformation of the body politic.
Summary
Despite his reputation as a staunch individualist and repeated attacks on institutions that constrain the individual's imagination, Julia Wright argues that William Blake rarely represents isolation positively and explores his concern with the kind of national community being established.