Reviews of Peer-Reviewed Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences
We give you the scuttlebutt on academic journals—aiding you in selecting the right journal for publication—in reviews that are sometimes snarky, sometimes lengthy, always helpful. Written by Princeton University graduate students and Wendy Laura Belcher.
Essays in Romanticism
For those interested in publishing articles that engage some aspect of Romantic literature (mainly British or, in a few instances, German)—often complicating or developing a canonical problem of form, aesthetics, or genre (often poetry, but occasionally fiction or nonfiction prose) frequently by way of contemporary theoretical or philosophical approaches to problems of gender, materiality, or new media (digital forms). (KT)
The Essays in Romanticism website states, “we welcome submissions on any aspect of Romanticism, and especially work using emergent or innovative perspectives and approaches”—this emphasis on “innovative” held true, with some overlap amongst articles regarding the approaches that seem most “innovative.” Problems of materiality, new materialism, gender, and poetic form were particularly frequent in approaches to Romantic poetry. At the same time, the journal emphasizes conventional Romantic authors and also classic twentieth-century treatments of Romanticism: a recent special issue was focused on Geoffrey Hartman’s readings of Wordsworth, with some quite theoretical and philosophically-rigorous responses, that attempted to rethink Hartman’s treatment of nature and form in Wordsworth’s poetry. Another special issue focused on Blake and the digital humanities offered another sort of conjunction of new approaches to classic problems (i.e. the numerous articles on Blake and materiality vs., say, Coleridge or Wordsworth). Many articles frame their close readings of form and aesthetics within eighteenth-century scientific and philosophical texts, offering a particular brand of historicism—often in relationship to very contemporary thinkers and critics (Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter made a surprisingly frequent appearance). The journal seems open to articles on conventional (male) writers, but also very open to new approaches to female Romantic poets, considered in smart, counterintuitive ways, helping us rethink relationships between gender and aesthetic form and figuration (not just, for instance, sensibility).
Useful for Submission
Word Count: 6,000-9,000 words
Issues per year: 2
Current volume number: 23
Articles per year: appr. 12 (6 per issue)
Citation style: Chicago (with specific guidelines)
Abstract length (if required): N/A
Upcoming special issues (if available): N/A
About Wendy Belcher
