Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and the Power of Imagination ed. Bernd-Christian Otto, Dirk Johannsen (review)

Abstract

approach to the figure as perceived to be real, but Young makes much less use of similarly insightful work on the figure’s evolution and political impact by specialists in literature. William Blake is one of the few literary figures whom Young mentions, even though Blake’s political impact was negligible for his vision of a mystically transfigured Britain; neither Ben Jonson, who collaborated with stage impresario Inigo Jones, nor Tennyson are mentioned. A few more relevant studies such as Howard Dobin’s New Historicist Merlin’s Disciples: Prophecy, Poetry, and Power in Renaissance England (1990) deserve at least a place in the bibliography. While I would not wish a nonhistoricist disciplinary approach on Young’s book, I was left wishing for further reference to fiction and literary criticism. Despite these quibbles, the virtues of Young’s survey are many. Perhaps further research on the modern intertextuality of the esoteric and politics, or on the impact of occultism incorporated into British life through imperial and Commonwealth ties, will prompt Young’s next book: I look forward to it.