THE
SENSE OF THE PAST
Lionel
Trilling
[Lecture
notes by Dr. S.
Sreekumar]
Disclaimer
Scholars, please note:
These study materials on Trilling are
only for classroom purposes. The explanations are not original in any sense
but taken from various sources. These notes are offered with the sole intention
of helping students and research scholars with a quick overview of Trilling’s
ideas. Those who would like to have a deeper or original study of the subject
must look elsewhere for assistance.
A Brief Summary [ 1300
words]
At the outset,
Trilling questions the status of the study of literature in the Universities of
the United States. He says that what is studied is not literature but its
history. There is a dispute in the Universities between ‘criticism’ and ‘scholarship’—
‘criticism’ is seen as the aggressor and ‘scholarship’ the defender. The
study of literature is often viewed with suspicion. Considering literature as
an object of knowledge removes the active power of literature.
Often, literary
history tries to approximate the methods of science. The genetic study of art
is one such method. The genetic study may give ‘added value’ to a work but the
study may easily become ‘vulgarized’ when the conditions are treated as primary
and the work as secondary. The genetic
study may give a degree of certainty to a work but such scientific certainty is
neither needed nor desirable. New critics revolted against the scientific study
of literature. They wished to restore the autonomous status of literature and
to see it as an agent of power.
