Revolutionary Subjects: A Radical History of the Bildungsroman - Paperback

by Benjamin Kohlmann (Author)

A literary history spanning borders and centuries to explore radicalization as portrayed in fiction

Tracing the evolution of socialist world literature from the nineteenth century to the present, Benjamin Kohlmann uncovers the formal repertoires through which a set of political ideals found aesthetic expression. At the heart of this study is the radical bildungsroman, a genre that subverts dominant narratives of individual formation. Broad in scope, Revolutionary Subjects explores the work of Balestrini, Chernyshevsky, Ding Ling, Lessing, Nizan, Sartre, Weiss, Wright, and many others. These novels challenge conventional ideas of selfhood and belonging, presenting new ways to imagine the self in relation to collective struggle and global solidarity.

Author Biography

Benjamin Kohlmann is Professor of English at the University of Regensburg (Germany), working on the relationship between literature and politics. He is the author of Committed Styles: Modernism, Politics, and Left-Wing Literature and British Literature and the Life of Institutions: Speculative States. He co-founded and co-edits the book series Literature & Politics at Oxford University Press.