Socialism and the romantic 'self': The case of Edward Thompson

The consideration of socialist ideology is best undertaken through a pluralist and anti-essentialist interpretative framework. The latter permits attention to the neglected by-ways of this ideology's development and the re-examination of points of contact between socialist thought and indigenous cultural traditions, in particular romanticism. Edward Thompson's efforts to forge a bridge-head between English romantic themes and socialist politics are considered as an interesting case-study of such an overlap. His romantic socialism relied upon an ontological vision drawn both from William Morris's notion of 'desire', and a celebration of William Blake's flawed attempt to fuse romantic voluntarism with republican radicalism. This ontology undergirded Thompson's attempt to persuade the British left to return to its pre-Marxist 'humanist' origins. Yet his vision proved only partially convincing to the communities of interpretation in which he operated in the 1950s and 1960s, failing to dislodge liberal claims upon the romantic lineage.