Coleridge Revision And Romanticism

The Romantic phenomenon of multiple texts has been shaped by the link between revision and authorial intent. However, what has been overlooked are the profound implications of multiple and contradictory versions of the same text for a materialist approach; using the works of Coleridge as a case study and the afterlife of the French Revolution as the main theme, this monograph lays out the methodology for a more detailed multi-layered analysis.

Scrutinising four works of Coleridge (two poems, a newspaper article and a play), where every major variant is read as a separate work with its own distinct socio-historical context, Ve-Yin Tee challenges the notion that any one text is representative of its totality. By re-reading Coleridge in the light of alternative textual materials within that time, he opens a wider scope for meaning and the understanding of Coleridge's oeuvre.

Review: In this searching and subtle historicist account, Ve-Yin Tee throws into sharp relief Coleridge's complex status as an inveterate reviser of his own corpus. Ve-Yin's incisive reading of specific texts from the 1790s offers a vivid insight into how Coleridge responded to the notion that different historical conditions literally demanded different works of art. - Dr Andrew Radford, University of Glasgow, UK