Byron and Place: History, Translation, Nostalgia

"Byron and Place merges two influential areas of literary criticsm of recent years (geography and history) under the notion of the 'geo-historical' - places where historically significant events have occurred. Stephen Cheeke examines the way in which the notion of being there becomes the central claim and shaping force in Byron's poety up to 1818, and investigates Byron's self-imposed exile in Italy and the gradual process of translation and acculturation (of being in-between) which marks out the period 1818-21. Finally, the study focuses upon Byron's nostalgia for England, his sense of having been there, which is read in relation to a broader critique of memory, home'sickness and place-attachment, providing a critical reading of Byron's entire oeuvre and an important narrative of teh poet's life."--BOOKJACKET.