William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority
In this study the aim is to read William Blake’s “London” in a new historicist perspective. The New Historicist approach to text would enable us to historicize the poem, in other words, to interpret it as a product of historical development and thus as a text mirroring the social conditions of the m...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ankara University
2017-01-01
|
| Series: | Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dtcfdergisi.ankara.edu.tr/index.php/dtcf/article/view/178 |
| _version_ | 1827608379191721984 |
|---|---|
| author | Mevlüde ZENGİN |
| author_facet | Mevlüde ZENGİN |
| author_sort | Mevlüde ZENGİN |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study the aim is to read William Blake’s “London” in a new historicist perspective. The New Historicist approach to text would enable us to historicize the poem, in other words, to interpret it as a product of historical development and thus as a text mirroring the social conditions of the miserable and the wretched living in the time in which the poem was written. To this end, in the study, the poem has been put in its social and historical contexts and the meanings of the images which Blake put in the poem have been discussed, and thus the politics prevailing in the period in which the poem was written and their reflections in the poem have been studied. Therefore contextualization is taking a great part in the study. The emphasis in the essay is on Blake’s criticism of the prevalent social order. It has also been observed that Blake seeing the potential dangers in the overreliance of scientific and technological methods of thought – methods neglecting spiritual and humanistic values and enslaving rather than liberating man – opposes scientific way of thinking of the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, that is, Enlightenment rationality. In the poem Blake basically protests against three major institutions: the government, the monarchy and the Church. He makes his criticism of these institutions through generalization of three main figures in the period. These are ‘the chimney sweeper’, ‘soldier’ and ‘harlot’. Thus Blake depicts London, in the poem, as a city in which Londoners are exposed to the subjugation of the authority and power in, what he saw as, a corrupted social system. In the study, it has been concluded that Blake in “London” does not objectify these figures (and the groups they represent) and does not make them the ‘Other’ because he does not detach himself from them; on the contrary, he becomes the voice of the marginalized and the exploited who are impoverished and made the ‘Other’ by the administration, monarchy and the Church. The study also concludes that Blake’s “London” is a poem of political and social protest and a text which resists the hegemonic forces of the time in which it was written. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:11:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57218488ae634e17830ab267c411b12d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2459-0150 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:11:17Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Ankara University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi |
| spelling | doaj.art-57218488ae634e17830ab267c411b12d2023-12-03T09:03:39ZengAnkara UniversityAnkara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi2459-01502017-01-01541247William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and AuthorityMevlüde ZENGİN0Cumhuriyet ÜniversitesiIn this study the aim is to read William Blake’s “London” in a new historicist perspective. The New Historicist approach to text would enable us to historicize the poem, in other words, to interpret it as a product of historical development and thus as a text mirroring the social conditions of the miserable and the wretched living in the time in which the poem was written. To this end, in the study, the poem has been put in its social and historical contexts and the meanings of the images which Blake put in the poem have been discussed, and thus the politics prevailing in the period in which the poem was written and their reflections in the poem have been studied. Therefore contextualization is taking a great part in the study. The emphasis in the essay is on Blake’s criticism of the prevalent social order. It has also been observed that Blake seeing the potential dangers in the overreliance of scientific and technological methods of thought – methods neglecting spiritual and humanistic values and enslaving rather than liberating man – opposes scientific way of thinking of the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, that is, Enlightenment rationality. In the poem Blake basically protests against three major institutions: the government, the monarchy and the Church. He makes his criticism of these institutions through generalization of three main figures in the period. These are ‘the chimney sweeper’, ‘soldier’ and ‘harlot’. Thus Blake depicts London, in the poem, as a city in which Londoners are exposed to the subjugation of the authority and power in, what he saw as, a corrupted social system. In the study, it has been concluded that Blake in “London” does not objectify these figures (and the groups they represent) and does not make them the ‘Other’ because he does not detach himself from them; on the contrary, he becomes the voice of the marginalized and the exploited who are impoverished and made the ‘Other’ by the administration, monarchy and the Church. The study also concludes that Blake’s “London” is a poem of political and social protest and a text which resists the hegemonic forces of the time in which it was written.http://dtcfdergisi.ankara.edu.tr/index.php/dtcf/article/view/178William BlakeLondonŞiirYeni TarihselcilikToplumsal EleştiriBaca SüpürücüsüOtoriteEgemen Güçlerİktidara Karşı Direnç |
| spellingShingle | Mevlüde ZENGİN William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi William Blake London Şiir Yeni Tarihselcilik Toplumsal Eleştiri Baca Süpürücüsü Otorite Egemen Güçler İktidara Karşı Direnç |
| title | William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority |
| title_full | William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority |
| title_fullStr | William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority |
| title_full_unstemmed | William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority |
| title_short | William Blake’s “London”: A Resistance to Power and Authority |
| title_sort | william blake s london a resistance to power and authority |
| topic | William Blake London Şiir Yeni Tarihselcilik Toplumsal Eleştiri Baca Süpürücüsü Otorite Egemen Güçler İktidara Karşı Direnç |
| url | http://dtcfdergisi.ankara.edu.tr/index.php/dtcf/article/view/178 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mevludezengin williamblakeslondonaresistancetopowerandauthority |