Dreiser and Veblen, Saboteurs of the Status Quo (Volume 1)

In this important interdisciplinary study, Clare Eby argues that the writings of Theodore Dreiser and Thorstein Veblen form a neglected chapter in the history of United States cultural criticism that is especially relevant today. This study leaves behind the narrow frameworks through which most of Veblen's and Dreiser's writings have been interpreted, covering a wide range of both authors' major and minor works. Moving beyond Veblen's __The Theory of the Leisure Class__ and Dreiser's __Sister Carrie,__ Eby shows how the two writers, as saboteurs of the status quo, anticipated many preoccupations of cultural critics today: the cultural role of the intellectual, the relationship of science to society, the place of consumption in modern life, and the intersection of class, gender, and power. Eby uses cultural criticism as a unifying concept that shows how Veblen fuses satire, sociology, economics, history, psychology, anthropology, political science, and philosophy; and how Dreiser connects fiction, travelogue, literary manifesto, occasional essay, autobiography, biography, and philosophy. By reading Veblen through Dreiser, and Dreiser through Veblen, Eby illustrates the striking parallels between their works, demonstrating how literature and social science can merge in cultural criticism. Although Dreiser's interest in the natural and social sciences has often been noted, this study provides the only extended analysis of how his works actually resemble, and strive to become, critically informed social science. Similarly, despite the singularity of Veblen's rhetoric, the centrality of literary devices to his works has never been systematically examined. By placing the works of Veblen and Dreiser into dialogue, this study contributes significantly to the recent attempts to bring together the concerns of literary analysts and social scientists. __Dreiser and Veblen, Saboteurs of the Status Quo__ makes an important contribution not only to Dreiser and Veblen studies but also to cultural criticism itself.

In this important interdisciplinary study, Clare Eby argues that the writings of Theodore Dreiser and Thorstein Veblen form a neglected chapter in the history of United States cultural criticism that is especially relevant today.

This study leaves behind the narrow frameworks through which most of Veblen's and Dreiser's writings have been interpreted, covering a wide range of both authors' major and minor works. Moving beyond Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class and Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Eby shows how the two writers, as saboteurs of the status quo, anticipated many preoccupations of cultural critics today: the cultural role of the intellectual, the relationship of science to society, the place of consumption in modern life, and the intersection of class, gender, and power.

Eby uses cultural criticism as a unifying concept that shows how Veblen fuses satire, sociology, economics, history, psychology, anthropology, political science, and philosophy; and how Dreiser connects fiction, travelogue, literary manifesto, occasional essay, autobiography, biography, and philosophy. By reading Veblen through Dreiser, and Dreiser through Veblen, Eby illustrates the striking parallels between their works, demonstrating how literature and social science can merge in cultural criticism.

Although Dreiser's interest in the natural and social sciences has often been noted, this study provides the only extended analysis of how his works actually resemble, and strive to become, critically informed social science. Similarly, despite the singularity of Veblen's rhetoric, the centrality of literary devices to his works has never been systematically examined. By placing the works of Veblen and Dreiser into dialogue, this study contributes significantly to the recent attempts to bring together the concerns of literary analysts and social scientists.

Dreiser and Veblen, Saboteurs of the Status Quo makes an important contribution not only to Dreiser and Veblen studies but also to cultural criticism itself.

Booknews

Examines the cultural criticism implicit in the works of Dreiser and Veblen (authors of, respectively, Sister Carrie and The Theory of the Leisure Class) and argues that their thought foreshadowed the concerns of more recent cultural critics. The author explores how both authors crossed and fused various disciplines in their work and discusses their shared concerns with such problems as the place of consumption in society, the cultural role of the intellectual, and the relationship of science to society. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

In this important interdisciplinary study, Clare Eby argues that the writings of Theodore Dreiser and Thorstein Veblen form a neglected chapter in the history of United States cultural criticism that is especially relevant today.Unlike the narrow frameworks through which most of Veblen's and Dreiser's writings have been interpreted, this study covers a wide range of both authors' major and minor works. Moving beyond The Theory of the Leisure Class and Sister Carrie, Eby shows how Veblen and Dreiser, as saboteurs of the status quo, anticipated many topics that preoccupy cultural critics today: the cultural role of the intellectual, the relationship of science to society, the place of consumption in modern life, and the intersection of class, gender, and power.Eby uses cultural criticism as a unifying concept that shows how Veblen fuses sociology, economics, history, psychology, anthropology, political science, satire, and philosophy; and how Dreiser connects fiction, travelogue, literary manifesto, occasional essay, autobiography, biography, and philosophy. By reading Veblen through Dreiser, and Dreiser through Veblen, Eby illustrates the striking parallels between their works, demonstrating how literature and social science can merge in cultural criticism.Although Dreiser's interest in the natural and social sciences has often been noted, this study provides the only extended analysis of how his works actually resemble, and strive to become, critically informed social science. Similarly, scholars have duly noted the singularity of Veblen's rhetoric, but the centrality of literary devices to his works has never been systematically examined. By placing Dreiser's and Veblen'sworks into dialogue, this study contributes significantly to the recent attempts to bring together the concerns of Literary analysts and social scientists.Dreiser and Veblen, Saboteurs of the Status Quo will make an important contribution not only to Dreiser and Veblen studies but also to cultural criticism itself. In this interdisciplinary study, Clare Eby argues that the writings of Theodore Dreiser and Thorstein Veblen form a neglected chapter in the history of United States cultural criticism that is especially relevant today. This study leaves behind the narrow frameworks through which most of Veblen's and Drelser's writings have been interpreted, covering a wide range of both authors' major and minor works. Moving beyond Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class and Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Eby shows how the two writers, as saboteurs of the status quo, anticipated many preoccupations of cultural critics today: the cultural role of the intellectual, the relationship of science to society, the place of consumption in modern life, and the intersection of class, gender, and power. Contents 7 Preface 9 Acknowledgments 13 Abbreviations of Works Frequently Cited 17 Introduction 21 Bibliography 211 Index 239 Permissions 247 TeX output 1998.12.11:1627