Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language

David G. Riede

ISBN 10: 0813935806 / ISBN 13: 9780813935805

Published by University of Virginia Press, US, 2015

About this Item

Matthew Arnold was one of the nineteenth century's greatest spokesmen for the saving power of culture, especially of poetry, to substitute for a vanishing religion. Yet he was persistently troubled throughout his career by the difficulty of finding adequate authority in language. Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language explores Arnold's attempts to find an authoritative language, and argues that his occasional claims for such a language reveal more uneasiness than confidence in the value of ""letters."" It examines Arnold's poetry within this context and demonstrates that his various experiments - to speak in oracular voice, to use classic forms, to achieve a grand style - and their failures, reflect the inevitable difficulties facing any poet in an age of intellectual and cultural upheaval. Riede argues that Arnold's determined efforts to write with authority, combined with his deep-seated suspicion of his medium, result in an exciting if often agonized tension in his poetic language - a language that strains against its inevitable but generally unacknowledged limitations.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780813935805

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press, US
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813935806
• ISBN 13: 9780813935805
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 333 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Matthew Arnold was one of the nineteenth century's greatest spokesmen for the saving power of culture, especially of poetry, to substitute for a vanishing religion. Yet he was persistently troubled throughout his career by the difficulty of finding adequate authority in language. Matthew Arnold and the Betrayal of Language explores Arnold's attempts to find an authoritative language, and argues that his occasional claims for such a language reveal more uneasiness than confidence in the value of ""letters."" It examines Arnold's poetry within this context and demonstrates that his various experiments-- to speak in oracular voice, to use classic forms, to achieve a grand style-- and their failures, reflect the inevitable difficulties facing any poet in an age of intellectual and cultural upheaval. Riede argues that Arnold's determined efforts to write with authority, combined with his deep-seated suspicion of his medium, result in an exciting if often agonized tension in his poetic language-- a language that strains against its inevitable but generally unacknowledged limitations.

From Library Journal

Published in the centennial year of Arnold's death, Riede's book takes a close look at Arnold's poetical canon, focusing on his use of language. Specifically, it deals with Arnold's struggle to find a "power" or "authority" to language (or culture) that would effectively counterbalance his age's growing faith in scientific inquiry, in scientific as opposed to imaginative description. This excellent study of Arnold's poetry in relationship to his culture and the poetic tradition will be of particular interest to Victorian scholars. Recommended primarily for academic collections. Robert E. Brown, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.
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