LIT 212R Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Exoticism, Romantic Nationalism, Individualism
30 Apr 2018
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• Exoticism:
➢ Images of distance places considered exotic.
o Spain: fav. "exotic" setting for French Romantics.
o North Africa & Middle East provided images of "Asia" to Europeans.
o Generally anywhere south of the country was considered more relaxed,
more colorful, more sensual.
➢ Consisted largely of simple stereotypes endlessly repeated.
➢ Europeans traveled to see the far-off lands that they had read about.
o Natives were depicted as inevitably lazy, unable to govern themselves.
o Europeans were more sophisticated and often considered "spoiled."
o Male travelers viewed women of foreign lands to be more sexually
desirable & available than women at home.
▪ Later depicted in fiction, drama, art, and opera.
1. Lord Byron’s Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-1818):
popularized exoticism in literature.
❖ Byron's longer poems translated well into other languages &
other artistic media.
2. Romantic lyric poetry of Coleridge, Shelley, Keats & Wordsworth
had negligible influence outside of their native tongue.
➢ Romantic exoticism is not always in tension w/ Romantic nationalism.
o Focused on obscure folk traditions, which were exotic to audiences who
were newly exposed to them.
▪ EX: Goethe's witches weren’t familiar to his audience b/c they were
Germanic, but Scottish witches in Macbeth were recognized.
• Religion:
➢ Transformed into a subject for artistic treatment far removed from
traditional religious art.
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