Post-postmodern discontent: contemporary fiction and the social world.(Critical Essay)

From: symploke | Date: January 1, 2004| Author: | Copyright information

Setting the Scene

Shelley's 1821 pronouncement that "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world" (632) probably marks the highpoint of the literary artist's confidence in the ability of literature to engage with and have an impact on the social world. One can think of a few specific examples of such engagement and impact--Melville's White-Jacket (1850) influencing legislation banning flogging on U.S. navy ships, Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) crystallizing the debate over slavery, or Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) inspiring the creation of the Pure Food and Drug ...

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