Trilling, Lionel

Trilling, Lionel
born July 4, 1905, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died Nov. 5, 1975, New York, N.Y.

U.S. literary critic and teacher.

He taught at Columbia University from 1931 until his death. His collections of literary essays include The Liberal Imagination (1950), Beyond Culture (1965), Sincerity and Authenticity (1972), and Mind in the Modern World (1972). He was one of the best-known American literary critics of his time. His wife was the critic and writer Diana Trilling (1905–96).

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▪ American critic
born July 4, 1905, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died Nov. 5, 1975, New York, N.Y.

      American literary critic and teacher whose criticism was informed by psychological, sociological, and philosophical methods and insights.

      Educated at Columbia University (M.A., 1926; Ph.D., 1938), Trilling taught briefly at the University of Wisconsin and at Hunter College in New York City and in 1931 joined the faculty of Columbia, where he remained for the rest of his life.

      Trilling's critical writings include studies of Matthew Arnold (1939) and E.M. Forster (1943), as well as collections of literary essays: The Liberal Imagination (1950), Beyond Culture: Essays on Literature and Learning (1965), and Sincerity and Authenticity and Mind in the Modern World (both 1972). He also wrote Freud and the Crisis of Our Culture (1955) and The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (1962). While Trilling maintained an interest in Freud and psychoanalysis throughout his intellectual career, his criticism was not based on any one system of thought. He saw his role and the role of all useful criticism as similar to that of his important predecessor Matthew Arnold: the “disinterested endeavour to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world.” To do this, Trilling brought a wide range of ideas and positions to bear on his subjects. While he covered many social and cultural topics, Trilling remained concerned with the tradition of humanistic thought and with the goal of educating and stimulating the enlightened middle classes.

      Trilling's novel The Middle of the Journey (1947) concerns the moral and political developments of the liberal mind in America in the 1930s and '40s. In 2008 a second novel, discovered and edited by scholar Geraldine Murphy, was published posthumously. Titled The Journey Abandoned, it follows the attempts of a graspingly ambitious young critic to make his name writing the biography of a reclusive writer turned physicist. Trilling was married to Diana Trilling, née Rubin, also a critic and writer.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • TRILLING, LIONEL — (1905–1975), U.S. author, critic, and public intellectual. Born in New York City, Trilling attended Columbia University and then began teaching there. He eventually was appointed as the first Jewish assistant professor of English at Columbia… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Trilling, Lionel — (4 jul. 1905–5 nov. 1975, Nueva York, N.Y., EE.UU.). Profesor y crítico literario estadounidense. Enseñó en la Universidad de Columbia desde 1931 hasta su muerte y fue uno de los críticos norteamericanos más relevantes de su época. Sus ensayos y… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Trilling,Lionel — Tril·ling (trĭlʹĭng), Lionel. 1905 1975. American literary critic whose works include Beyond Culture (1965) and Sincerity and Authenticity (1972). * * * …   Universalium

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  • Lionel Trilling — (born Lionel Mordechai [cite book last = Wald first = Alan M. title = The New York Intellectuals: The Rise and Decline of the Anti Stalinist Left from the 1930s to the 1980s publisher = University of North Carolina Press date = 1987 pages = p 33… …   Wikipedia

  • Trilling — is the surname of: * Ilia Trilling (1895 1947), Yiddish song composer * Lawrence Trilling * Lionel Trilling (1905 1975), US literary criticee also* Drilling …   Wikipedia

  • Lionel — /luy euh nl/, n. a male given name, form of Leon. * * * (as used in expressions) Hampton Lionel Ismay of Wormington Hastings Lionel Ismay Baron James Cyril Lionel Robert Jospin Lionel Trilling Lionel * * * …   Universalium

  • Lionel — (as used in expressions) Hampton, Lionel Ismay (de Wormington), Hastings Lionel Ismay, barón James, C(yril) L(ionel) R(obert) Jospin, Lionel Trilling, Lionel …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Lionel Trilling — (* 4. Juli 1905 in New York, (NY); † 5. November 1975) war ein amerikanischer Literaturkritiker, Schriftsteller und Lehrer. Er gehörte zur Gruppe der New York Intellectuals und schrieb regelmäßig für die Partisan Review. Er gilt als einer der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lionel Trilling — (Nueva York, 4 de julio de 1905 – 5 de noviembre de 1975) fue un crítico literario, autor y profesor estadounidense. Trayectoria Hijo de una familia judía neoyorkina, Lionel Trilling se educó en la Universidad de Columbia, donde fue contemporáneo …   Wikipedia Español

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