A last-minute shout-out for an interesting event taking place in Bath this evening -Wednesday, November 11th.
The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution is excited to host Dr David Skidmore for a multidisciplinary discussion where politics and poetry meet. The former Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath will be exploring The Mask of Anarchy by the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Written after the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, this paean to non-violent resistance was an influence on the American poet Walt Whitman, and much later cited by Aldous Huxley in his Encyclopaedia of Pacifism. Held up by many as the greatest political poem ever to be written in English, it is addressed to an imagined democratic public and explores the relationship between political oppression, social injustice, popular resistance and the struggle for democratic freedom.
The Mask of Anarchy sees Shelley using poetry not simply as a means of emotional expression but as a form of political intervention, something in which he believed strongly.
The Mask of Anarchy maintains its relevance today as it raises questions that continue to shape democratic societies. Through highlighting selected passages from this poem, Dr Skidmore will examine and discuss its symbolism, ballad-like form, and political ideals, alongside the historical struggle for representation, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press.
The talk will also consider its delayed publication in 1832, its later political influence, culminating in a broader conversation about what poetry can do in political life.
This talk is the latest part of BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series, and please look out for talks to come from A.C. Grayling on Authoritarianism, Michael Kranert on the rise of the AFD, Melissa Lane on the afterlives of Athenian Democracy, Tim Benson on the history of Political Cartoons, and Emma Carmel on AI technologies.
As with all talks in the series, the evening concludes with a live audience Q&A. You can attend in person at BRLSI, 16 Queen Square, Bath, or online via livestream.
For further talks from the Democracy Under Threat series, and to explore the wider BRLSI programme:
