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'"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'

Steven Vine

The Discourse of Slavery: Aphra Behn to Toni Morrison, Pages: 40 - 63

Swansea University Author: Steven Vine

Abstract

The essay argues that the radical force of Blake's 'Visions of the Daughters of Albion' (1793) is not defined by a dialectic of freedom and oppression, but the contradictory and ironic energies of Blakean language. The essay analyses the representation of enslavement, sexuality and en...

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Published in: The Discourse of Slavery: Aphra Behn to Toni Morrison
Published: London Routledge 1994
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17976
first_indexed 2014-05-16T01:30:05Z
last_indexed 2018-02-09T04:52:07Z
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spelling 2014-05-15T16:24:24.2288857 v2 17976 2014-05-15 '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"' 8adad05ceecbaab7f4b2be512149b4d7 Steven Vine Steven Vine true false 2014-05-15 CACS The essay argues that the radical force of Blake's 'Visions of the Daughters of Albion' (1793) is not defined by a dialectic of freedom and oppression, but the contradictory and ironic energies of Blakean language. The essay analyses the representation of enslavement, sexuality and enlightenment in Visions alongside Mary Wollstonecraft's 'Vindication of the Rights of Woman' (1792). Against Wollstonecraft, Blake figures the female body not simply as ‘enslaving,’ but a site of political conflict and emancipatory potential. The essay examines the relations between Blake's text and J.G. Stedman's 'Narrative, of a Five Years' expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam' (1796) for which he provided several engravings during the period in which Visions was produced. In the poem that refigures him, and the engravings, Blake exposes Stedman's collusive and duplicitous relation to colonialism, just as 'Visions' illuminates the contradictions inherent in the ideology of ‘enlightenment.’ Book chapter The Discourse of Slavery: Aphra Behn to Toni Morrison 40 63 Routledge London 29 8 1994 1994-08-29 COLLEGE NANME Culture and Communications School COLLEGE CODE CACS Swansea University 2014-05-15T16:24:24.2288857 2014-05-15T16:23:33.0482095 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Steven Vine 1
title '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
spellingShingle '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
Steven Vine
title_short '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
title_full '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
title_fullStr '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
title_full_unstemmed '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
title_sort '"That Mild Beam": Enlightenment and Enslavement in William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion"'
author_id_str_mv 8adad05ceecbaab7f4b2be512149b4d7
author_id_fullname_str_mv 8adad05ceecbaab7f4b2be512149b4d7_***_Steven Vine
author Steven Vine
author2 Steven Vine
format Book chapter
container_title The Discourse of Slavery: Aphra Behn to Toni Morrison
container_start_page 40
publishDate 1994
institution Swansea University
publisher Routledge
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
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description The essay argues that the radical force of Blake's 'Visions of the Daughters of Albion' (1793) is not defined by a dialectic of freedom and oppression, but the contradictory and ironic energies of Blakean language. The essay analyses the representation of enslavement, sexuality and enlightenment in Visions alongside Mary Wollstonecraft's 'Vindication of the Rights of Woman' (1792). Against Wollstonecraft, Blake figures the female body not simply as ‘enslaving,’ but a site of political conflict and emancipatory potential. The essay examines the relations between Blake's text and J.G. Stedman's 'Narrative, of a Five Years' expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam' (1796) for which he provided several engravings during the period in which Visions was produced. In the poem that refigures him, and the engravings, Blake exposes Stedman's collusive and duplicitous relation to colonialism, just as 'Visions' illuminates the contradictions inherent in the ideology of ‘enlightenment.’
published_date 1994-08-29T18:38:22Z
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