Romantic Shock and Surprise
The “shock of the new” is a phrase normally associated with Modernism but the aesthetics of shock has its roots in Romanticism, where notions of originality, novelty and surprise combined with the concept of the sublime to create compelling new descriptions of art’s disruptive powers. This special issue, guest edited by David Duff (Queen Mary University of London) and Laurent Folliot (Sorbonne Université) is based on an international symposium held in Paris in May 2025; it assesses the impact of this new cultural poetics, examining manifestations of aesthetic shock and surprise across a broad spectrum of Romantic literature from Britain and beyond.
Cover Design: Karolína Bendová
Cover Image: Johann Heinrich Füssli, Lady Macbeth somnambule (Shakespeare, Macbeth), © GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Hervé Lewandowski
| Introduction David Duff (Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom) and Laurent Folliot (Sorbonne University, France), p. 1-10 |
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| Revolutionary Shocks in Translation: Political and Linguistic Change in the Discourse of Radical Translators (1789-1815) Rosa Mucignat (King’s College London, United Kingdom), p. 11-29 |
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| “Deep the Raven Wades in Gore:” Death Songs and the Norse-Gothic Spectacle Sharon Choe (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), p. 30-43 |
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| Radical Reform and the Shock of the Past in Mary Robinson’s Vancenza Eleanor Franzén (University of London, United Kingdom), p. 44-57 |
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| Romantic Shock and Industrial Catastrophe Stephanie O’Rourke (University of St Andrews, United Kingdom), p. 58-75 |
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| Selling Shock at the Sans Pareil: The Early Shows of Jane and John Scott Henry James Mason (Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom), p. 76-87 |
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| “Marmoreality:” Re-Animating the Classical Body in the Romantic Present Sophie Thomas (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada), p. 88-103 |
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| “Proging” the Darkness in John Clare’s “The Mouse’s Nest” Markus Poetzsch (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada), p. 104-113 |
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| Shelley’s Alastor and the Poetics of Inflammatory Shock Merrilees Roberts (Cambridge University, United Kingdom), p. 114-126 |
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| “Surprised and Not Surprised:” Varieties of Astonishment in Austen’s Novels Christopher R. Miller (City University of New York, USA), p. 127-143 |
| History and Literature in Northern Ireland: Critical Reflections on Their Joint Agency Mária Kurdi (University of Pécs, Hungary), p. 144-149 |
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| Breaking the Limits: Flann O’Brien’s Avant-garde Aesthetics Einat Adar (University of South Bohemia, Czechia), p. 150-152 |
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| Notes on Contributors p. 153-155 |
