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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. Rejecting his Jewish heritage he became an advocate of secularism.
==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.
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]].
Initially known as a scholar of Victorian and modern British fiction, his influence grew after 1945, reaching its peak in the early 1950s after the publication of his most brilliant work, ''The Liberal Imagination'' (1950), and declining somewhat between 1965 and 1975 when he was seen either as an elder literary statesman or as a kind of dusty intellectual monument. Since his death his legacy has been claimed by both Left and Right, but the intricacy and dualities of his work ensure that he will remain a quietly controversial' figure within American intellectual life.<ref> Rodden (1996)</ref>
Initially known as a scholar of Victorian and modern British fiction, his influence grew after 1945, reaching its peak in the early 1950s after the publication of his most brilliant work, ''The Liberal Imagination'' (1950), and declining somewhat between 1965 and 1975 when he was seen either as an elder literary statesman or as a kind of dusty intellectual monument. Since his death his legacy has been claimed by both Left and Right, but the intricacy and dualities of his work ensure that he will remain a quietly controversial' figure within American intellectual life.<ref> Rodden (1996)</ref>
* 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]
* [http://www.questia.com/library/literature/literary-theory/literary-theorists-and-critics/lionel-trilling.jsp online books and articles from Questia]
* [http://www.questia.com/library/literature/literary-theory/literary-theorists-and-critics/lionel-trilling.jsp online books and articles from Questia]
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[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trilling, Lionel}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trilling, Lionel}}