Sympathy time: adam smith, george eliot, and the realist novel
TL;DR: Omniscient narration, shrinking the distance between ourselves and oth ers, encourages sympathy: the assumption is that by knowing more?of what others know or think along with what they don't, we draw closer and more inclined to sympathize with their conditions.
Abstract: Talk about novel-reading and sympathy and you are likely to spend some of that time talking about omniscience. If your subject is the nineteenth-century realist novel, you will probably have something to say about the relationship between ethi cal feeling and free indirect discourse which suggests that peering into the secret hearts and minds of characters enables our sympathy for them, and thus that "sym pathy" names that special ability to cultivate our identification with others through feeling what they feel and knowing what they know, or what they are thinking about. In this vein omniscient narration, shrinking the distance between ourselves and oth ers, encourages sympathy: the assumption is that by knowing more?of what others know or think along with what they don't?we draw closer and more inclined to sympathize with their conditions. The link between sympathy and knowledge is all but guaranteed in this formulation, as indeed it regularly goes without saying that fa cilitating our sympathetic identification with characters is what many English real ists' experiments in omniscience were designed to do. Sympathy in such novels, so the story goes, results from both seeing and knowing: the unique seeing into and knowledge of interiors afforded by the nineteenth-century novel's most celebrated
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TL;DR: Letty Garth's "favourite red volume" appears in Middlemarch at the beginning of Book 7, at the Vincy's New Year's Day party that draws most of the town characters together.
Abstract: Letty Garth's “favourite red volume” makes its appearance in Middlemarch at the beginning of Book 7, at the Vincy's New Year's Day party that draws most of the Middlemarch town characters together. It is a small passage that can easily go unnoticed – or, if registered at all, glossed as simply part of the fabric of dense, inconsequential details that realist texts deploy to produce verisimilitude. Roland Barthes describes such details as potentially “scandalous” from the point of view of structure in that they seem to amount to “a kind of narrative luxury,” likely to threaten structural coherence, recoverable at best as “filling” or as giving “some index of character or atmosphere” (141). Such details might be said to reinforce the vices of nineteenth-century realism, including closing the gap between words and things: “we are the real,” these details say, producing “the referential illusion” (148). They amount to bad narrative housekeeping, “increasing the cost of narrative information” (141). Since the detail of Letty's book involves a young child it is doubly likely, in a novel so clearly dedicated to the adult world of compromise and doubtful success, to be set aside as mere local colour. The potentially trivializing function of the paradox of small instances of excess is reflected in Barthes’ descriptive phrases for them: “useless details,” “insignificant notation” (142).
6 citations
TL;DR: For almost a decade, George Eliot labored at a translation of seventeenth-century Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus and Ethics, and although completed, it never saw the light of day.
Abstract: For almost a decade , George Eliot labored at a translation of seventeenth-century Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus and Ethics , and although completed, it never saw the light of day; it was the subject of a petty fight between the proposed publisher, Henry Bohn, and her partner, George Henry Lewes. The result was that for more than a century it was tucked away, first, presumably, in a drawer, and eventually, in the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Although critics and scholars have long known that she had completed this work – references abound in letters and journal entries – it wasn't published until 1981, and even then, in an obscure imprint of the Salzburg University press. Copies of this published edition, which is limited to the Ethics and capably annotated by Thomas Deegan, are quite rare and difficult to get ahold of.
4 citations
01 Jan 2016
4 citations
TL;DR: This paper pointed out that even after Eliot no longer found compelling its accompanying theology, sympathetic "insight" persisted in her imagination as a way to see into and within her realist fictional worlds.
Abstract: Readers have long noted the pervasiveness of sympathy in George Eliot's work. But why always sympathy? One cannot fully answer this question without attending to a crucial and yet still understudied context for Eliot's work: evangelicalism. It is from evangelical thought and practice that she gleaned the concept of what I will call sympathetic “insight,” which evangelicals privileged for its ability to “see” the real and to move between the dichotomous barriers of the in/visible and in/external. I want to suggest that even after Eliot no longer found compelling its accompanying theology, sympathetic “insight” persisted in her imagination as a way to see into and within her realist fictional worlds.
4 citations
TL;DR: Affective Transmission and the Invention of Characters in the Victorian Bildungsroman as discussed by the authors reconsiders several novels about young women as they make their way into a larger social world.
Abstract: “Affective Transmission and the Invention of Characters in the Victorian Bildungsroman” reconsiders several novels about young women as they make their way into a larger social world. Rather than achieving self-discipline, as has frequently been argued, heroines such as Lucy Snowe, Maggie Tulliver, and Margaret Hale tend to be overpowered by interpersonal emotions. They distance themselves from these affects by attributing them to fictitious characters. The gendered variation of the larger tradition this article sketches out calls into question the premise of the bildungsroman as a whole, raising the possibility that the adjustment of the self to external realities is never as complete as it seems.
3 citations
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Book•
01 Jan 1970
TL;DR: Hume's early years and education is described in a treatise of human nature as discussed by the authors. But it is not a complete account of the early years of his life and education.
Abstract: PART 1: INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL How to Use this Book List of Abbreviations Editor's Introduction Hume's Early years and Education A Treatise of Human Nature Book 1: Of the Understanding Book 1 part 1: The Elements of the Mental World Book 1 Part 2: The Ideas of Space and Time Book 1 Part 3: Knowledge, Probability, Belief, and Causation Book 1 Part 4: Forms of Scepticism Book 2: Of the passions Book 2 Part 1: The Indirect Passions of Pride and Humility Book 2 Part 2: The Indirect Passions of Love and Hatred Book 2 part 3: The Direct Passions and the Will Book 3: Of Morals Book 3 Part 1: The Source of Moral Distinctions Book 3 Part 2: The Artificial Virtues Book 3 Part 3: Natural Virtues and Natural Abilities The Abstract and the Early Reception of the Treatise Supplementary Reading A Note on the Texts of this Edition PART 2: THE TEXT Advertisement Introduction Book 1: Of the Understanding Part 1: Of ideas, their origin, composition, connexion, abstraction, etc Sect 1: Of the origin of our ideas Sect 2: Division of the subject Sect 3: Of the ideas of the memory and imagination Sect 4: Of the connexion of association of ideas Sect 5 Of relations Sect 6 Of modes and substances Sect 7: Of abstract ideas Part 2: Of ideas of space and time Sect 1: Of the infinite divisibility of our ideas of space and time Sect 2: Of the infinite divisibility of space and time Sect 3 Of the other qualities of our ideas of space and time Sect 4 Objections answered Sect 5: The same subject continued Sect 6: Of the idea of existence and of external existence Part 3: of knowledge and probability Sect 1: Of knowledge Sect 2 Of probability and of the idea of cause and effect Sect 3: Why a cause is always necessary Sect 4: Of the component parts of our reasonings concerning cause and effect Sect 5: Of the impressions of the senses and memory Section 6: Of the inference from the impression to the idea Sect 7: Of the nature of the idea or belief Sect 8: Of the causes of belief Sect 9: Of the effects of other relations and other habits Sect 10 Of the influence of belief Sect 11: Of the probability of chances Sect 12: Of the probability of causes Sect 13: Of unphilosophical probability Sect 14: Of the idea of necessary connexion Sect 15: Rules by which to judge of causes and effects Sect 16: Of the reason of animals Part 4: Of the sceptical and other systems of philosophy Sect 1: Of scepticism with regard to reason Sect 2: Of scepticism with regard to the senses Sect 3 Of the ancient philosophy Sect 4 Of the modern philosophy Sect 5: Of the immateriality of the soul Sect 6: Of personal identity Sect 7: Conclusion of this book Book 2: Of the Passions Part 1: Of pride and humility Sect 1: Division of the subject Sect 2: Of pride and humility their objects and causes Sect 3: Whence these objects and causes are derived Sect 4: Of the relations of impressions and ideas Sect 5: Of the influence of these relations on pride and humility Sect 6: Limitations of this system Sect 7: Of vice and virtue Sect 8: Of beauty and deformity Sect 9: Of external advantages and disadvantages Sect 10: Of property and riches Sect 11: Of the love of fame Sect 12: Of the pride and humility of animals Part 2: Of love and hatred Sect 1: Of the objects and causes of love and hatred Sect 2: Experiments to confirm this system Sect 3: Difficulties solved Sect 4: Of the love of relations Sect 5: Of our esteem for the rich and powerful Sect 6: Of benevolence and anger Sect 7: Of compassion Sect 8: Of malice and envy Sect 9: Of the mixture of benevolence and anger with compassion and malice Sect 10 Of respect and contempt Sect 11: Of the amorous passion, or love betwixt the sexes Sect 12: Of the love and hatred of animals Part 3: Of the will and direct passions Sect 1: Of liberty and necessity Sect 2: The same subject continued Sect 3: Of the influencing motives of the will Sect 4: Of the causes of the violent passions Sect 5: Of the effects of custom Sect Of the influence of the imagination on passions Sect 7: Of contiguity and distance in space and time Sect 8: The same subject continued Sect 9: Of the direct passions Sect 10: Of curiosity, or the love of truth Book 3: Of Morals Advertisement Part 1: Of virtue and vice in general Sect 1: Moral distinctions not derived from reason Sect 2: Moral distinctions derived from a moral sense Part 2: Of justice and injustice Sect 1: Justice, whether a natural or artificial virtue? Sect 2: Of the origin of justice and property Sect 3: Of the rules, which determine property Sect 4: Of the transference of property by consent Sect 5: Of the obligation of promises Sect 6: Some farther reflections concerning justice and injustice Sect 7: Of the origin of government Sect 8: Of the source of allegiance Sect 9: Of the measures of allegiance Sect 10: Of the objects of allegiance Sect 11: Of the laws of nations Sect 12: Of chastity and modesty Part 3: Of the other virtues and vices Sect 1: Of the origin of the natural virtues and vices Sect 2: Of greatness of mind Sect 3 Of goodness and benevolence Sect 4: Of natural abilities Sect 5: Some farther reflections concerning the natural virtues Sect 6: Conclusion of this book Appendix An Abstract of A Treatise of Human Nature PART 3 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL Editors' Annotations Annotations to the Treatise Annotations to the Abstract Glossary References Index
10,342 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1941
TL;DR: The A Glossary of Literary Terms, Seventh Edition as discussed by the authors defines and discusses terms, critical theories, and points of view that are commonly applied to the classification, analysis, interpretation, and history of works of literature.
Abstract: The standard for over thirty years, A Glossary of Literary Terms, Seventh Edition, defines and discusses terms, critical theories, and points of view that are commonly applied to the classification, analysis, interpretation, and history of works of literature. Entries are arranged alphabetically. The glossary is oriented toward undergraduate students of English, American, and other literatures. Over the decades, the book has proved to be the clearest and most useful literary reference ever. Features: * All entries revised * References and supplementary readings updated * 20 new entries, including author and authorship, black arts movement, theories of metaphor, queer theory, postcolonial studies, and Harlem Renaissance * New arrangement of all entries--both Literary Terms and Modern Theories--into one alphabetical list to reflect the acceptance of modern literary and critical terminology into general usage * New index of authors and titles * Revised index of terms emphasised by adding colour to the outside margin
1,855 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: Keen as mentioned in this paper argues that readers' perception of a text's fictiveness increases the likelihood of readers' empathy, by releasing readers from their guarded responses to the demands of real others.
Abstract: Does reading novels evoking empathy with fictional characters really cultivate our sympathetic imagination and lead to altruistic actions on behalf of real others? Empathy and the Novel presents a comprehensive account of the relationships among novel reading, empathy, and altruism. Though readers' and authors' empathy certainly contribute to the emotional resonance of fiction and its success in the marketplace, Keen finds the case for altruistic consequences of novel reading inconclusive (and exaggerated by defenders of literary reading). She offers instead a detailed theory of narrative empathy, with proposals about its deployment by novelists and its results in readers. Empathy and the Novel engages with neuroscience and contemporary psychological research on empathy, bringing affect to the center of cognitive literary studies' scrutiny of narrative fiction. Drawing on narrative theory, literary history, philosophy, and contemporary scholarship in discourse processing, Keen brings together resources and challenges for the literary study of empathy and the psychological study of fiction reading. Empathy robustly enters into affective responses to fiction, but its proper role in shaping the behavior of emotional readers has been debated for three centuries. Keen surveys these debates and offers a series of hypotheses about literary empathy, including narrative techniques inviting empathetic response. She argues that above all readers' perception of a text's fictiveness increases the likelihood of readers' empathy, by releasing readers from their guarded responses to the demands of real others. She confirms the centrality of narrative empathy as a strategy, as well as a subject, of contemporary novelists. Despite the disrepute of putative human universals, novelists from around the world endorse the notion of shared human emotions when they overtly call upon their readers' empathy. Consequently, Keen suggests, if narrative empathy is to be better understood, then women's reading and popular fiction must be accorded the respect of experimental inquiry.
674 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1978
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the entire spectrum of techniques for portraying the mental lives of fictional characters in both the stream-of-consciousness novel and other fiction, and each chapter deals with one main technique, illustrated from a wide range of nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction by writers including Stendhal, Dostoevsky, James, Mann, Kafka, Joyce, Proust, Woolf, and Sarraute.
Abstract: This book investigates the entire spectrum of techniques for portraying the mental lives of fictional characters in both the stream-of-consciousness novel and other fiction. Each chapter deals with one main technique, illustrated from a wide range of nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction by writers including Stendhal, Dostoevsky, James, Mann, Kafka, Joyce, Proust, Woolf, and Sarraute.
639 citations