Cotton Famine Poetry: Functions of Emotion in British and American Verse 1861–65 (Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture) - Hardcover

Rennie, Simon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3032019621 ISBN 13: 9783032019622

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025

Synopsis

This book represents the first substantial text examining the nature of Cotton Famine poetry, which responded to the severe economic downturn in the cotton trade in Lancashire and elsewhere precipitated by the Union blockade of Confederate exports during the American Civil War (1861-65). The poetry, largely collected from Lancashire newspapers and American periodicals, is featured on the Poetry of the Lancashire Cotton Famine database. The poems offer a unique opportunity to engage with the opinions and feelings of ordinary Victorians reacting to extraordinary circumstances, and a chance to re-assess Anglo-American relations during the Civil War through the lens of transatlantic poetic discourse.

After a general introduction the book is split into two sections. The first section contains chapters examining the literary and historical context of the poetry, while the second offers interpretation through a blend of close analysis and critical approaches relating to the function of emotion in political discourse.

About this title

About the Author

Simon Rennie is Associate Professor in Victorian Poetry at the University of Exeter, UK.

From the Back Cover

This book represents the first substantial text examining the nature of Cotton Famine poetry, which responded to the severe economic downturn in the cotton trade in Lancashire and elsewhere precipitated by the Union blockade of Confederate exports during the American Civil War (1861-65). The poetry, largely collected from Lancashire newspapers and American periodicals, is featured on the Poetry of the Lancashire Cotton Famine database. The poems offer a unique opportunity to engage with the opinions and feelings of ordinary Victorians reacting to extraordinary circumstances, and a chance to re-assess Anglo-American relations during the Civil War through the lens of transatlantic poetic discourse.

After a general introduction the book is split into two sections. The first section contains chapters examining the literary and historical context of the poetry, while the second offers interpretation through a blend of close analysis and critical approaches relating to the function of emotion in political discourse.

Simon Rennie is Associate Professor in Victorian Poetry at the University of Exeter, UK. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3032019621
• ISBN 13: 9783032019622
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 333