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'''Lionel Trilling''' (1905-1975) was a highly influential American literary critic and Professor of English at Columbia University in New York. His most influential book was ''The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society'' (1950).
'''Lionel Trilling''' (1905-1975) was a highly influential American literary critic and Professor of English at Columbia University in New York. His most influential book was ''The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society'' (1950).
A Communist when young, Trilling turned anti-communist in the 1930s. Trilling was an architect of liberal anti-communism and political pluralism who sought a reasoned moderation as the antithesis to Soviet communism. Rejecting his Jewish heritage he became an advocate of secularism.
A Communist when young, Trilling turned anti-communist in the 1930s. Trilling was an architect of liberal anti-communism and political pluralism who sought a reasoned moderation as the antithesis to Soviet communism. Downplaying his Jewish heritage he became an icon of secularism and cosmopolitanism that transcended the ethnicity of Jews or Yankees.
==Career==
==Career==
He was deeply rooted in New York City; he was the son of Fannie Cohen and David W. Trilling, a wealthy manufacturer of men's fur-lined coats. He spent nearly his entire career at Columbia University, starting with a B.A. in 1925, M.A. in 1926, and Ph.D. in English literature in 1938. Trilling married Diana Rubin in 1929; she too became a noted author and critic. They had one son.
He was deeply rooted in New York City; he was the son of Fannie Cohen and David W. Trilling, a wealthy manufacturer of men's fur-lined coats. His parents were Orhtodox Jews; his mother was well-read in literature. He spent nearly his entire career at Columbia University, starting with a B.A. in 1925, M.A. in 1926, and Ph.D. in English literature in 1938. Trilling married Diana Rubin in 1929; she too became a noted author and critic. They had one son.
After short spells teaching English at the University of Wisconsin (1926-1927) and Hunter College in New York City (1927-30), he moved up to Columbia, as instructor (1931-1939), assistant professor (1939-1945), associate professor (1945-1948), full professor (1948-1965), George Edward Woodbury Professor of Literature and Criticism (1965-1970), university professor (1970-1974), and university professor emeritus and visiting lecturer (1974-1975). He was a visitor at Harvard and Oxford. He was the first Jew to receive tenure in the English Department at Columbia University, and for years one of the very few in the [[Ivy League]].
After short spells teaching English at the University of Wisconsin (1926-1927) and Hunter College in New York City (1927-30), he moved up to Columbia, as instructor (1931-1939), assistant professor (1939-1945), associate professor (1945-1948), full professor (1948-1965), George Edward Woodbury Professor of Literature and Criticism (1965-1970), university professor (1970-1974), and university professor emeritus and visiting lecturer (1974-1975). He was a visitor at Harvard and Oxford. He was the first Jew to receive tenure in an English department at an [[Ivy League]] university.
==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Kimmage, Michael. ''The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism'' (2009), by a conservative scholar
* Kimmage, Michael. ''The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism'' (2009), by a conservative scholar
** Kimmage, Michael. "Even in a simple color scheme, there is no red without blue and no blue without red," (2009) [http://www.rorotoko.com/index.php/article/michael_kimmage_interview_trilling_chambers_anti-communism_conservative_tur/ online interview]
** Kimmage, Michael. "Lionel Trilling's The Middle of the Journey and the Complicated Origins of the Neo-Conservative Movement," ''Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies,'' Volume 21, Number 3, Spring 2003, pp. 48-63 in [[Project MUSE]]
** Kimmage, Michael. "Lionel Trilling's The Middle of the Journey and the Complicated Origins of the Neo-Conservative Movement," ''Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies,'' Volume 21, Number 3, Spring 2003, pp. 48-63 in [[Project MUSE]]
* Rodden, John. "The Opposing Selves of Lionel Trilling," ''Modern Age'' 1996 38(2): 164-174. , by a conservative scholar [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/38_02/rodden.pdf online edition]
* Rodden, John. "The Opposing Selves of Lionel Trilling," ''Modern Age'' 1996 38(2): 164-174. , by a conservative scholar [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/38_02/rodden.pdf online edition]