ROMANTIC REVOLUTIONARY DISCOURSE AND THE BRITISH SLAVE TRADE. Amanda Alexander; Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC.

Generally, British Romantics have a two-fold reputation. Some critics view them as escapists who turn away from the sociopolitical "realities" of their time to focus on self-indulgent of the early ninteenth century. This study examines the Romantic writers' involvement in and focuses on pertinent texts of eight writers including two former slaves: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Cowper, Ottobah Cugonano, Olaudah Equiano, Hannah More, Amelia Anderson Opie, Roberts Southey and Ann Yearsley.
Concentration on works by these authors, as well as relevant critical publications, this paper examines the authors' dialogues with British imperial culture and the ways in which they resisted and/or contributed to the ideologies that underpin the instution of slavery.

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