Westover P.
Necromanticism is a study of literary pilgrimage: readers’ compulsion to visit literary homes, landscapes, and (especially) graves during the long Romantic period. The book draws on the histories of tourism and literary genres to highlight Romanticism’s recourse to the dead in its reading, writing, and canon-making practices.
Introduction: Traveling to Meet the Dead
On Ideal Presence
The Origins of Literary Tourism
William Godwin, Necro-Tourism, and the Empirical Afterlife of the Dead
Imaginary Pilgrimages: Felicia Hemans, Dead Poets, and Romantic Historiography
Interlude: Necromanticism and Romantic Authorship
The Transatlantic Invention of “English” Literary Heritage
Illustration, Historicism, and Travel: The Legacy of Sir Walter Scott
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