Real and Imagined Worlds: The Novel and Social Science PDF
Preview Real and Imagined Worlds: The Novel and Social Science
Real and Imagined Worlds Real and Imagined Worlds The Novel and Social Science MORROE BERGER HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England 1977 Copyright © 1977 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Berger, Morroe. Real and imagined worlds. Bibliography Includes index. 1. Literature and society. 2. Fiction —History and criticism. I. Title. PN3344.B4 809.3'3 76-27375 ISBN 0-674-74941-3 For D. and S. Preface My interest in the subject and approach of this book goes back to my undergraduate years, when I was inspired in social inquiry by that extraordinary teacher, Charles H. Page. Sentiment leads me now to mention several great thinkers and writers to whom I have been indebted since then. They are Thorstein Veblen, Morris R. Cohen, John Dos Passos, Ignazio Silone, and Robert M. Maclver. Though I did come to know some of them, they influenced me mainly from afar and without being aware of it. The references to them in this book are inadequate expressions of my appreciation of their sharp thinking, clear writing, and broad sympathies. More immediate debts are equally pleasant to acknowledge, es- pecially to Princeton University for providing a perfect setting and many opportunities for study. Several colleagues were kind enough to read all or parts of this book. They are Jerome W. Clinton, Jo- seph Frank, Alvin B. Kernan, and Dennis H. Wrong. For research assistance, I want to thank Joan Kimmelman, Lucille Rosen, Rus- sell W. Stevens, and Linda J. Tarver. I greatly appreciate the help of Virginia LaPlante of the Harvard University Press. viii PREFACE The copyright holders or publishers of the following books have kindly permitted the quotation of many passages: Ε. M. Förster, Howards End, copyright 1921 by Ε. M. Forster, reprinted by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., The Soci- ety of Authors as the literary representative of the Estate of Ε. M. Forster. Chester B. Himes, If He Hollers Let Him Go, originally pub- lished by Doubleday, copyright 1945 by Chester B. Himes; paper- back edition published by New American Library; permission granted by Roslyn Targ Literary Agency, Inc. Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine, first version, copyright 1937 by Harper and Brothers; reprinted by permission of Atheneum, publishers of the revised version, copyright © 1962 by Atheneum House, Inc., and of Methuen and Co., Ltd. Contents 1 Approaches to Social Life 1 2 Common Origins in the Eighteenth Century 12 3 Human Association and Culture in the Novel 46 4 Political Power and Social Class in the Novel 82 5 The Novel as a Vehicle for Social Commentary 119 6 Sociopsychological Insights in the Novel 133 7 Fiction and History 162 8 Literature and Life 186 9 Literature as a Social Science 214 10 The Challenge of Science to Literature 236 Bibliography 261 Notes 287 Index 297
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