The Imperial Picturesque in Felicia Hemans’ “The Indian City”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20156002 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pramod K Nayar (0000-0003-2317-6570, University of Hyderabad, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 34-50 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387 |
| Publisher | Unisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02564718.2015.1024418 |
| OpenAlex | W2031844346 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
This essay studies Felicia Hemans’ The Indian City as embodying an aesthetic view of India. The essay argues that the poem deploys the aesthetic of the picturesque in order to produce a cultural fable about the collapse of an Indian city. The first section maps Hemans’ “Indian picturesque” and its pastoral Concordia discors in which diverse elements exist in harmony, and with a definite feminisation of the landscape. In the second section, it shows how this picturesque is subverted through an emphasis on the moral geography of the city; the feminisation of the land continuing in a different fashion. In the final section the essay argues that the civic picturesque of the poem retreats behind the natural picturesque, a process again initiated by the woman's presence, even as the landscape itself serves as a space of gendered memorialisation. It argues that, ultimately, Hemans presents the Oriental woman as politically ineffectual because although Maimuna is initially a point of political coalition she slides into the role of a sentimental mother blunting her political role and ambitions.OpsommingHierdie essay bestudeer The Indian City deur Felicia Hemans as omvattend van 'n estetiese beskouing van Indië. Die essay voer aan dat die gedig die estetika van die pikareske aanwend om ‘n kulturele fabel oor die ineenstorting van 'n Indiese stad te skep. Die eerste gedeelte stippel Hemans se “Indiese pikareske” en sy herderlike Concordia discors uit, waarin diverse elemente in harmonie voorkom, en met 'n definitiewe vervrouliking van die landskap. In die tweede gedeelte wys dit hoe hierdie pikareske omgekeer word deur klem te lê op die morele geografie van die stad, terwyl die vervrouliking van die land op ‘n ander manier voortgaan. In die laaste gedeelte, beredeneer die essay dat die stedelike pikareske van die gedig terugsak agter die natuurlike pikareske – 'n proses wat weereens deur die vrou se teenwoordigheid geïnisieer is – selfs terwyl die landskap self dien as 'n ruimte vir geslagspesifieke herdenking. Dit voer aan dat Hemans uiteindelik die Oorsterse vrou as polities nutteloos voorstel, omdat – hoewel Maimuna aanvanklik 'n punt van politieke bondgenootskap is – sy die rol aanneem van ‘n ma wat haar politieke rol en ambisies afrond
Art · Art history · Humanities · Literature · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Visual arts · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Philippine History and Culture · South Asian Cinema and Culture
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |