Fiction sets you free : literature, liberty, and western culture / Russell A. Berman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berman, Russell A., 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xxi, 238 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University Of Iowa Press, [2007]

Summary:

In what can only be called a genuine intellectual adventure, Russell Berman raises fundamental questions long ignored by literary scholars; Why does literature command our attention at all? Why would society want to cultivate a sphere of activity devoted to the careful study of literary fiction? Written as a tonic to what he calls the debilitating cultural relativism of contemporary literary studies, Fiction Sets You Free advances the innovative argument that literature and capitalism, rather than representing merely commercialization, actually belie a long and positive association: literary autonomy is a central part of modern Western culture, thoroughly intertwined with political democracy and free market capitalism.

Contents:

Why Literature Matters xi

1 Periodization and the Canon 11

2 Human Origins and Literary Beginnings 25

3 Writing and Heroism 61

4 Literacy and Autonomy 83

5 The Epic and the Individual 101

6 Religion and Writing 119

7 The Democracy of Literature 149

8 Imagination and Economy 179.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-228) and index.

ISBN:

1587296047

9781587296048

OCLC:

153578929