Oscar Wilde and the Radical Politics of the Fin De Siecle

Oscar Wilde's literary works are explored in relation to his radicalism, offering a new interpretation of his famous literary works and contextualising them within the political crises of his time. The book draws on archival research, including Wilde's correspondence, reviews, interviews, and speeches, to provide a theoretical approach to his subversive opinions on capitalism, property, and empire, and his opposition to the authority of the state in bourgeois-imperial Britain. It also clarifies the relationship between Wilde's aestheticism, his anticolonial beliefs, and his support for anarchism. The book argues that Wilde's literary writing was informed by and contributed to a broader set of progressive political initiatives being pursued at the end of the nineteenth century, challenging contemporary representations of Wilde as an effete and socially disengaged figure.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 31 December 2020
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Oscar Wilde's literary works have been significantly influenced by contemporary radicalism, leading to a new, politicized interpretation of his most famous literary works. This book offers a contextualized reading of Wilde's writing by examining it against the contemporary political crises that it addressed. Through archival research, including Wilde's correspondence, reviews, interviews, unpublished lectures, and speeches, the author provides a theoretical approach to Wilde's subversive opinions on the problems posed by capitalism, property, and empire, and how he consistently opposed the authority of the state in bourgeois-imperial Britain. The book also clarifies the relationship between Wilde's aestheticism, his anticolonial beliefs, and his support for anarchism. By framing Wilde's literary writing in relation to his open support for revolutionaries, anarchists, workers, and migrants, Donghaile argues that Wilde's aesthetical radicalism was informed by and contributed to a broader set of progressive political initiatives being pursued at the end of the nineteenth century. The book consists of previously unpublished material and provides a politicized and historicized account of Wilde's key works by situating them within the framework of his ideological commitment to these radical political causes.

Weight: 544g
Dimension: 162 x 240 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474459433