romanticisms

Romanticisms refer to a set of overlapping but distinct cultural movements that emerged in Europe and the Americas roughly between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. They developed as a reaction against Enlightenment rationalism, neoclassical forms, and the social changes of the Industrial Revolution, and they prioritized imagination, emotion, and individual experience.

Regional variants took different shapes. German Romanticism, associated with figures such as Herder, Novalis, and early Schelling, emphasized the unity of art, nature, and the inner life. English Romanticism, led by Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, and later Shelley, Keats, and Byron, valued spontaneity, the moral and spiritual power of nature, and a rebellion against strict norms. French Romanticism, personified by writers such as Victor Hugo and, in painting, by artists like Delacroix, stressed emotion, individualism, and historical imagination. American Romanticism, including the Transcendentalists (Emerson and Thoreau) and novelists such as Melville and Hawthorne, explored nature, self-reflection, and reformist ideals.

Common themes across these movements include attention to the sublime in nature, the elevation of imagination and genius, interest in folklore and medieval or historical past, an emphasis on subjective experience, and a critical stance toward industrial modernity and purely rational explanations. The movements influenced literature, music, and the visual arts, as well as philosophy and politics, contributing to ideas about liberty, nationalism, and individual conscience.

Legacy: Romanticisms helped shape modern aesthetics and values in many regions, but they have also faced criticisms of idealization and essentialism, and scholars continue to study regional differences and intersections with political movements of the period.