Daniel Roberts

The postcolonial legacy of British Romantic imperialism in India is the point of intersection between my interests in Eighteenth-Century and Romantic-period literature and Indian literature in English. My publications to date include three scholarly editions, a monograph, and four edited collection of critical essays, apart from various journal articles spanning eighteenth-century to contemporary literature. My edition of Charles Johnston's The History of Arsaces, Prince of Betlis appeared in the Early Irish Fiction series (General editors: Ian Ross, Aileen Douglas, Moyra Haslett) from Four Courts Press. As my Introduction and editorial apparatus explore in detail, Johnston's inventive novel appeared at a politically charged moment on the eve of the American revolutionary war and in the aftermath of the Bengal Famine of 1769-70, world events that were linked by the nefarious activities of the ubiquitous East India Company.  My edition of Robert Southey's The Curse of Kehama (volume 4 of Robert Southey: Poetical Works, 1793-1810, 5 vols., 2004) uncovers the extent of Southey's engagement with orientalist and indological researches of his time, and traces in detail his revision of the text from early drafts of the poem to its final publication in 1810. The five-volume Southey edition was designated as a Distinguished Scholarly Edition by the Modern Language Association of America for its biennial prize in this category in 2004-5. My edition of De Quincey's Autobiographic Sketches (comprising the two opening volumes of his own collected edition of his writings, Selections Grave and Gay) was published as volume 19 of The Works of Thomas De Quincey, 21 vols., 2000-2003. My first book, Revisionary Gleam: De Quincey, Coleridge and the High Romantic Argument (Liverpool UP, 2000), explores the literary relationship between De Quincey and Coleridge in the context of canonical models of literary influence. Together with Prof. Robert Morrison, I have edited two collection of critical essays entitled Thomas De Quincey: New Theoretical and Critical Directions (Routledge, 2008) and Romanticism and Blackwood's Magazine: 'An Unprecedented Phenomenon' (Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print, 2013). With my colleagues in Modern Languages at QUB, Simon Davies and Gabriel Sánchez Espinosa I have edited India and Europe in the Global Eighteenth Century (Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment, 2014); this collection of essays emerged from a major international conference held at Queen's University Belfast. With Jonathan Jeffrey Wright I have edited Ireland's Imperial Connections, 1775-1947 (Cambridge Imperial and Post-colonial Studies, Palgrave, 2019) which emerged from a major international conference organised at Queen's University Belfast. 

My teaching at Queen's includes the following modules

ENG1001: English in Transition (Level 1)
ENG2064: Enlightentment and its Discontents (Level 2)
ENG3070: Contemporary Indian Literature (Level 3)
ENG7376: Romantic-era Magazines and Print Culture (MA)

Principal publications 

Revisionary Gleam: De Quincey, Coleridge, and the High Romantic Argument (Liverpool UP, 2000)

This study includes much new information on Thomas De Quincey and his critical engagement with Coleridge, Wordsworth, Burke, Kant and others. The author subtly and convincingly brings overlooked dimensions of De Quincey’s politics to the fore, and examines essays often ignored. The impressive reading of the Liverpool circle and the 1803 Diary should lead to reassessments of this period in De Quincey’s development.

Autobiographic Sketches (Volume 19 of The Works of Thomas De Quincey, Pickering and Chatto, 2003) 

Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is considered one of the most important English prose writers of the early-19th century. This is the final part of a 21-volume set presenting De Quincey's work, also including previously unpublished material.

The Curse of Kehama (Volume 4 of Robert Southey: Poetical Works, 1799-1810; Pickering and Chatto, 2004) 

This edition of Robert Southey's early poetry seeks to restore Southey the poet to his place at the centre of late 18th and early 19th century British literary culture. 

Thomas De Quincey: New Theoretical and Critical Directions, edited by Robert Morrison and Daniel Sanjiv Roberts (Routledge, 2009)

The ongoing critical fascination with Thomas De Quincey and the burgeoning recognition of the centrality of his writings to the Romantic age and beyond necessitates a critical examination of De Quincey. In this spirit, ten of the top De Quincey scholars in the world have come together in this volume to engage directly with the immense amount of new information to be published on De Quincey in the past two decades. The book features wide-ranging and incisive assessments of De Quincey as essayist, addict, economist, subversive, biographer, autobiographer, aesthete, innovator, hedonist, and much else.

Romanticism and Blackwood's Magazine, edited by Robert Morrison and Daniel S. Roberts (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) 

This collection of essays throws vast new light on the most significant literary-political journal of the Romantic age. Its chapters analyze Blackwood's wide-ranging contributions on some of the most topical issues in Romantic studies, including celebrity, British versus Scottish nationalism, and the rise of terror and detective fiction. 

India and Europe in the Global Eighteenth Century, edited by Simon Davies, Daniel Sanjiv Roberts and Gabriel Sánchez Espinosa (Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 2014) 

The long eighteenth century was a period of major transformation for Europe and India as imperialism heralded a new global order. Eschewing the reductive perspectives of nation-state histories and postcolonial ‘east vs west’ oppositions, contributors to India and Europe in the Global Eighteenth Century put forward a more nuanced and interdisciplinary analysis. 

The History of Arsaces, Prince of Betlis by Charles Johnston (Four Courts, 2014) 

Recounting the eventful travels of Selim, an intrepid young Arab who runs away from his parental home to learn about the world, The History of Arsaces, Prince of Betlis (1774) by the Co. Limerick-born Charles Johnston (c.1719–c.1800) is an inventive mixture of fictional genres and styles: romance, satire, sentimental narrative and oriental fantasy. The novel appeared at a politically charged moment, on the eve of the American revolutionary war and in the aftermath of the Bengal famine of 1769–70, world events that were linked by the nefarious operations of the ubiquitous East India Company. These momentous occurrences, polarising public opinion and stimulating Irish patriot sympathies in the mid-70s, provide the undercurrent to Johnston’s thoughtful examination of war, commerce, and empire through the lens of a fictional ‘history’. Enclosing a series of tales within tales, Johnston’s oriental romance offers its readers a remarkable concoction of Gulliver-inspired fantasy, political satire and moral reflection, played out within an expansive historical and geographical setting. As the Monthly Review, or, Literary Journal commented on its first appearance in 1774, The History of Arsaces provided ‘striking intimations, of the utmost national importance, with respect to over-grown empire, and colony connexions’.

Ireland's Imperial Connections, 1775-1947, edited by Daniel Sanjiv Roberts and Jonathan Jeffrey Wright (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)

This edited collection explores the complexities of Irish involvement in empire. Despite complaining regularly of treatment as a colony by England, Ireland nevertheless played a significant part in Britain’s imperialism, from its formative period in the late eighteenth century through to the decolonizing years of the early twentieth century. Framed by two key events of world history, the American Revolution and Indian Independence, this book examines Irish involvement in empire in several interlinked sections: through issues of migration and inhabitation; through literary and historical representations of empire; through Irish support for imperialism and involvement with resistance movements abroad; and through Irish participation in the extensive and intricate networks of empire. Informed by recent historiographical and theoretical perspectives, and including several detailed archival investigations, this volume offers an interdisciplinary and evolving view of a burgeoning field of research and will be of interest to scholars of Irish studies, imperial and postcolonial studies, history and literature.