Chartist Readers: Print, Oral Culture, and Democracy, 1830--1860

FAIN: FT-54838-07

Robert G. Hall
Ball State University (Muncie, IN 47306-1022)

This project approaches a crucial development in British history, the coming of democracy, from the perspective of Chartist readers. I explore the interplay of oral culture and print in Chartist politics and analyze how reading shaped the ideas and practices of Chartist democracy. My goal is to move beyond the traditional emphasis on texts and authorial intentions to focus on readers and their experiences. This interdisciplinary study addresses issues of interest to literary and democratization scholars as well as historians.