Lionel Trilling
American literary critic whose The Liberal Imagination argued that literature provides the most complex testing ground for liberal ideas. His essays, collected in several volumes, helped shape the intellectual culture of postwar America. He taught at Columbia for four decades.
Works
- The Liberal ImaginationEssays exploring the cultural and moral dimensions of liberal democracy
- The Opposing SelfEssays on literature examining conflict between self and culture in novels
- Beyond CultureEssays arguing that beyond culture lies individual authentic selfhood
- Sincerity and AuthenticityExplores tension between authentic feeling and performed sincerity in culture
- Matthew ArnoldCritical biography of Victorian poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold