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“Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism

Michael Franklin

European Romantic Review, Volume: 22, Issue: 2, Pages: 257 - 276

Swansea University Author: Michael Franklin

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/10509585.2011.544932

Abstract

This article considers how far Southey understood the relationship inherent in the Vedic concept of tapas between the incandescent energy produced by ascetic practices and the dangerous power of knowledge. With a scholar’s austere devotion, he subjects the practice of severe and mortifying austeriti...

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Published in: European Romantic Review
Published: European Romantic Review 2011
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa11433
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spelling 2013-11-07T14:20:18.3246530 v2 11433 2012-06-14 “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism 5763ea0078526df2db3767b735ff89fc Michael Franklin Michael Franklin true false 2012-06-14 FGHSS This article considers how far Southey understood the relationship inherent in the Vedic concept of tapas between the incandescent energy produced by ascetic practices and the dangerous power of knowledge. With a scholar’s austere devotion, he subjects the practice of severe and mortifying austerities to a detailed consideration which mingles horror and fascination. The idea that such penance and sacrifice accrue a “sterling” value, bankable in Heaven, and independent of the devotee’s motives, evokes especial revulsion. At the time of the composition of The Curse of Kehama (1810) this is viewed as a peculiarly Hindu tenet. Subsequently, Southey’s desire to demonize Catholicism leads him to regard it as a received opinion of the Catholic church, and to juxtapose Hindu and Romish austerities in catalogues of repulsive penitential practices. His vigor in denouncing Hindu and Catholic austerities was ambivalently matched by his delight in writing poetry about them, and the article examines the complex interaction of his politics, poetics, proclivities, and prejudices. Southey’s representations of Hinduism are analyzed against the background of sources and analogues in the research of William Jones and other Bengal Orientalists; the criticism of both metropolitan and colonial reviewers; and the delineations of other Romantic period writers. Journal Article European Romantic Review 22 2 257 276 European Romantic Review 30 4 2011 2011-04-30 10.1080/10509585.2011.544932 COLLEGE NANME Humanities and Social Sciences - Faculty COLLEGE CODE FGHSS Swansea University 2013-11-07T14:20:18.3246530 2012-06-14T15:38:35.9233161 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Michael Franklin 1
title “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
spellingShingle “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
Michael Franklin
title_short “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
title_full “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
title_fullStr “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
title_full_unstemmed “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
title_sort “Drafts upon heaven”: Robert Southey, tapas, and the “monstrous fables” of Hinduism and Romanism
author_id_str_mv 5763ea0078526df2db3767b735ff89fc
author_id_fullname_str_mv 5763ea0078526df2db3767b735ff89fc_***_Michael Franklin
author Michael Franklin
author2 Michael Franklin
format Journal article
container_title European Romantic Review
container_volume 22
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container_start_page 257
publishDate 2011
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.1080/10509585.2011.544932
publisher European Romantic Review
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 This article considers how far Southey understood the relationship inherent in the Vedic concept of tapas between the incandescent energy produced by ascetic practices and the dangerous power of knowledge. With a scholar’s austere devotion, he subjects the practice of severe and mortifying austerities to a detailed consideration which mingles horror and fascination. The idea that such penance and sacrifice accrue a “sterling” value, bankable in Heaven, and independent of the devotee’s motives, evokes especial revulsion. At the time of the composition of The Curse of Kehama (1810) this is viewed as a peculiarly Hindu tenet. Subsequently, Southey’s desire to demonize Catholicism leads him to regard it as a received opinion of the Catholic church, and to juxtapose Hindu and Romish austerities in catalogues of repulsive penitential practices. His vigor in denouncing Hindu and Catholic austerities was ambivalently matched by his delight in writing poetry about them, and the article examines the complex interaction of his politics, poetics, proclivities, and prejudices. Southey’s representations of Hinduism are analyzed against the background of sources and analogues in the research of William Jones and other Bengal Orientalists; the criticism of both metropolitan and colonial reviewers; and the delineations of other Romantic period writers.
published_date 2011-04-30T03:13:13Z
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score 11.012924

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