Bleak Liberalism

Why is liberalism so often dismissed by thinkers from both the left and the right? To those calling for wholesale transformation or claiming a monopoly on “realistic” conceptions of humanity, liberalism’s assured progressivism can seem hard to swallow. Bleak Liberalism makes the case for a renewed understanding of the liberal tradition, showing that it is much more attuned to the complexity of political life than conventional accounts have acknowledged. Amanda Anderson examines canonical works of high realism, political novels from England and the United States, and modernist works to argue that liberalism has engaged sober and even stark views of historical development, political dynamics, and human and social psychology. From Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and Hard Times to E. M. Forster’s Howards End to Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, this literature demonstrates that liberalism has inventive ways of balancing sociological critique and moral aspiration. A deft blend of intellectual history and literary analysis, Bleak Liberalism reveals a richer understanding of one of the most important political ideologies of the modern era. Bleak Liberalism advances a renewed account of liberalism, with the aim of providing a better understanding of the way liberal concepts, principles, and aspirations have informed novelistic art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Britain and the US. From the writings of John Stuart Mill through the debates of the cold war and beyond, liberalism is a philosophical and political project conceived in an acute awareness of the challenges and often bleak prospects confronting it. These challenges are shown to be various, encompassing a range of psychological, sociological, and economic conditions. This renewed account of liberalism forms the basis for literary analyses focused on the interplay of political themes and elements of literary form, including narrative, dialogue, character, and perspective. The study includes analyses of canonical works of high realism (Dicken’s Bleak House, Eliot’s Middlemarch, and Trollope’s The Way We Live Now), political novels (Dickens’s Hard Times, Gaskell’s North and South, Forster’s Howards End, Trilling’s The Middle of the Journey), and experimental works of modernism (Ellison’s Invisible Man, Lessing’s The Golden Notebook) that dramatize the ideological conflicts of the twentieth century in striking ways. A central role is played in this study by the liberalism of the war and cold war era, and especially the work of Lionel Trilling, given the vivid debates during this era about the role of art in the face of challenging experiences of political disenchantment and renewed aspiration. The impact of neoliberalism on theories of liberalism is also discussed Why Is Liberalism So Often Dismissed By Thinkers From Both The Left And The Right? To Those Calling For Wholesale Transformation Or Claiming A Monopoly On Realistic Conceptions Of Humanity, Liberalism's Assured Progressivism Can Seem Hard To Swallow. Bleak Liberalism Makes The Case For A Renewed Understanding Of The Liberal Tradition, Showing That It Is Much More Attuned To The Complexity Of Political Life Than Conventional Accounts Have Acknowledged. Anderson Examines Canonical Works Of High Realism, Political Novels From England And The United States, And Modernist Works To Argue That Liberalism Has Engaged Sober And Even Stark Views Of Historical Development, Political Dynamics, And Human And Social Psychology. From Charles Dickens's Bleak House And Hard Times To E. M. Forster's Howards End To Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, This Literature Demonstrates That Liberalism Has Inventive Ways Of Balancing Sociological Critique And Moral Aspiration. A Deft Blend Of Intellectual History And Literary Analysis, Bleak Liberalism Reveals A Richer Understanding Of One Of The Most Important Political Ideologies Of The Modern Era. Bleak Liberalism -- Liberalism In The Age Of High Realism -- Revisiting The Political Novel -- The Liberal Aesthetic In The Postwar Era: The Case Of Trilling And Adorno -- Bleak Liberalism And The Realism/modernism Debate: Ellison And Lessing. Amanda Anderson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents Introduction......1 1 Bleak Liberalism......18 2 Liberalism in the Age of High Realism......46 3 Revisiting the Political Novel......78 4 The Liberal Aesthetic in the Postwar Era: The Case of Trilling and Adorno......99 5 Bleak Liberalism and the Realism/Modernism Debate: Ellison and Lessing......115 Notes......143 Bibliography......157 Index......165