Any historian of the literature of the modern age will take virtually for granted the adversary intention, the actually subversive intention, that characterizes modern writing - he will perceive its clear purpose of detaching the reader from the habits of thought and feeling that the larger culture imposes, of giving him a ground and a vantage point from which to judge and condemn, and perhaps revise, the culture that produces him.


The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent: Selected Essays (ed. Northwestern University Press, 2009) - ISBN: 9780810124882

Lionel Trilling Quotes

Any historian of the literature of the modern age will take virtually for granted the adversary intention, the actually subversive intention, that...

Any historian of the literature of the modern age will take virtually for granted the adversary intention, the actually subversive intention, that...

Any historian of the literature of the modern age will take virtually for granted the adversary intention, the actually subversive intention, that...

Any historian of the literature of the modern age will take virtually for granted the adversary intention, the actually subversive intention, that...