A Modern Coleridge (PDF)

Andrea Timár is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Her articles on Coleridge appeared in The Wordsworth Circle, The Coleridge Bulletin, Notes and Queries, and Critical Engagements: a Journal of Criticism and Theory.

“ANDREA TIMÁR’S STUDY BRINGS A FRESH PERSPECTIVE to the problem of Coleridge’s mature politics by viewing his concerns about the dangers of the fast ‘diffusion of information and knowledge’ (64) and restless craving for ‘the wonders of the day’ (63) alongside the similar concerns of Walter Benjamin, who—in the years leading up to the Second World War—identified the deleterious effects of modernity.” (Paul Cheshire, The Coleridge Bulletin, Issue 51, Summer, 2018)





“Deployment of the three motifs of cultivation, addiction, and habit gives a welcome thematic coherence to the whole, particularly as the argument gathers up the interrelations of the three. This framework to the book also gives a sense of anticipation for readers, enhanced by the presentation of interesting combinations of texts. … the ambitious reach of the book and the interest generated by the trajectories of its investigations commend it to others working on this topic … .” (Murray J. Evans, Romanticism, vol. 24 (2), July, 2018)





“Timár’s Modern Coleridge is certainly a well-researched and thought-provoking study with a very original focus on Coleridge’s (sometimes unexpected) modernity. It is a rare book in that it effectively combines historical context with multifarious pieces of Coleridge’s works, offering new insights into the author’s epistemological approach to poetry and life in general.” (Annalisa Volpone, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Vol. 24 (1), 2018)





“It is clear that this book, imaginatively structured, energetically researched and lucidly written … is one with which readers of Coleridge are going to have to engage. For this reader, it is the most provocative and exciting book on Coleridge for decades.” (Stephen Bygrave, The BARS Review, Issue 47, Spring, 2016)




“Timar provides a comprehensive yet thoroughly modern take on Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ideology ... . The reader is