The Romantic Ridiculous

This project aims to shift Romantic Studies from the sublime to the ridiculous. In asking 'Is Romanticism ridiculous?' I do not seek to dismiss either the period or its literature as meaningless or unimportant, but to ask instead whether an alternative approach to its aesthetics categories can shift the specialism from a still dominant focus on a narrow canon of individuals to a joyful celebration of collectivity and collaboration. Building on the work of German philosopher Jean Paul Richter, I define the ridiculous as a comic juxtaposition of perspectives, based on an initial failure of understanding. Richter argues that our sense of the ridiculous originates in early interactions with nature, triggering a kind of counter-sublime which reorients the relationship between individuals, imagination, and landscape, focusing on communal responses to the natural world above individual takes. For Richter, the ridiculous is most clearly seen in social interactions, provoking laughter, community, and collaboration between groups of people. This project adopts the ridiculous as a lens through which to read Romantic-period engagements with the natural and social worlds, shifting the emphasis away from encounters between an individual genius and sublime scene to an aesthetic perspective which privileges joyful group dynamics promising moral and spiritual rejuvenation, especially in relation to children and childhood. Throughout the project, Samuel Taylor Coleridge recurs as a philosopher responding to Richter's ideas in his own lecture on wit and humour; as a writer of the ridiculous in relation to nature, society, and childhood; and as a figure of the ridiculous in both Romantic-period and later satires. The project will draw on current debates about aesthetics, particularly Sianne Ngai's work on aesthetic experiences with a lesser affective charge than the sublime, to foreground the ridiculous as an alternative approach to Romantic Studies, originating within Romanticism itself, and reconfiguring it from individual genius to collective joy.
The project will lead to four types of output:
1. A co-authored book on The Romantic Ridiculous, drawing on the spirit of collaboration of Richter's ridiculous, and including work by me and the post-doctoral researcher.
2. A single-authored article (peer-reviewed) responding to Research Question 2, placing Jean Paul Richter's 'ridiculous' aesthetics in relation to 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, and aimed at publication in the leading international journal, Romanticism.
3. A collaborative article (peer-reviewed) responding to Research Question 5, on the legacies of Romanticism in children's literature, aimed at publication in Children's Literature Association Quarterly.
4. A project website, constructed using a free wordpress site, and hosted there for the duration of the project then stored in Edge Hill's Data Archive for the standard time of 10 years after the last request as detailed in the Data Mangagement Plan. The website will include a reflective blog on the development of the exhibition, providing a record of the collaborative activities on the project, as well as a record of the project's 'Table Talks'
Events on the project include:
1. An exhibition entitled 'We Are Not Amused: Laughter in the Nineteenth Century' at the Atkinson, Southport, in November 2019, based on collaborative work with Edge Hill Nineteen, my university's 19thC research group, which will launch 'The Romantic Ridiculous' as a project. This exhibition is scheduled to take place before the start of the AHRC fellowship, demonstrating our already existing relationship upon which the project will build.
2. A travelling exhibition on 'The Romantic Ridiculous and the Romantic Child' produced in collaboration with North West secondary school students and displayed initially at Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories.
3. A series of workshops called 'Table Talks' on new approaches to Romantic Studies

The project will benefit the following non-academic partners or interest groups:

1. Secondary school students in the North West
Secondary school students study Romantic poetry as part of the National Curriculum. The Romantic Ridiculous aims to change perspectives on the Romantic period by re-describing its preoccupations under new aesthetic principles. The project will engage students in co-producing a travelling exhibition on the Romantic Ridiculous and the Romantic Child, working with holdings at The Wordsworth Trust and Windermere Jetty to engage students in thinking about how Romantic writers represented childhood and the legacies of the Romantic period in contemporary children's literature. Students' views of Romanticism will be both challenged and juxtaposed with more familiar literature, in the form of children's fiction, in order to change their understanding of the period and its literature. The project will work with between 10-30 A-level students, in the first instance, developing links with 2 local schools in order to mitigate the risk of a school dropping out of the project.

2. Secondary school teachers
The project will also engage secondary school teachers in new approaches to Romantic poetry as part of the travelling exhibition and accompanying workshops, exploring alternative activities and interpretations of Romantic writing, involving the teachers in the collaborative activities undertaken by the students. The project will begin by engaging with secondary schools in the local area which already have links with Edge Hill, including St Mary's Catholic High School in Leigh and Rainford High School in Rainford. Teachers will be invited to one of the Table Talks, focusing on Teaching Romanticism. This workshop will discuss how to develop the Impact of the project on a broader scale in future. Two teachers involved in the project will also act as members of the Impact Steering Committee associated with the project, overseeing and guiding the Impact activities associated with it.

3. Partner museums and cultural heritage organizations
The Atkinson museum (including gallery space, a theatre, and library) has dedicated exhibition space for a collaborative project on laughter in the nineteenth century, undertaken by Edge Hill's nineteenth-century research group, and including material inspired by The Romantic Ridiculous. This exhibition will be launched before the beginning of the AHRC-sponsored fellowship. It is included here to demonstrate existing, non-academic interest in the project, and could be used as a location for the travelling exhibition later in the project. Windermere Jetty, as principal partner, and The Wordsworth Trust at Grasmere have dedicated exhibition spaces to display a travelling exhibition co-produced between me, them, and secondary school students, inspired by the themes of The Romantic Ridiculous, particularly the representation of childhood in the Romantic period and responses to this Romantic Child in nineteenth-century and later children's literature. The project will benefit these partner institutions by supporting them to deliver objectives in bringing their work to wider audiences and co-producing knowledge. The exhibition will finally be hosted by Tate Exchange as part of Edge Hill's memorandum of understanding with the Tate.

4. Tourists, visitors, and locals in the Lake District
Tourists, visitors, and locals in the Lake District will be engaged by the travelling exhibition, which will present information on childhood and the Romantic period in innovative and interactive ways, initially with students presenting on their independent research. The exhibition will engage students outside of the Lake District in thinking about the Romantic heritage of the area and will attract their families and others to the area, as well as engaging tourists and locals in the area.

Further information on Impact is provided in the Pathways to Impact statement.