ABSTRACT
Using Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819) as a key text, this chapter discusses two of the most important literary trends in the first half of the nineteenth century Romanticism and nationalism. Romanticism refers to the fact that works of art often became an expression of the inner life of the individual artist and that imagination became a primary criterion in the creation of literature. Novelists and poets became highly interested in the past, ranging from medieval topics to the Enlightenment. Nationalism points to the use of literature as an instrument of nation-building: by evoking heroic episodes from the nation’s history and by representing and inventing national heroes who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the nation’s welfare, authors contributed to the rise of national sentiments in their countries. From 1820 onwards, the historical novel would become the most important medium for telling stories about the past. Nearly every European nation had a Walter Scott of its own. At the same time, another type of hero emerged who can be considered as quite the opposite type: the Byronic hero. This literary type was named after George Gordon Byron, who created heroes of a pensive and melancholic nature. This figure was a product of Romanticism as well, but represented feelings of loneliness and despair, which ultimately led to his downfall.
