Trilling, Lionel (1905-1975), was a major American literary critic. In his essays, Trilling used literature as a starting point for examining the moral responsibility of the “self,” or individual, to society. He explored the ideas expressed in literature, and how they reflect or challenge the society that produced them. Trilling was influenced by the theories of the Viennese psychologist Sigmund Freud and wrote extensively about him.
Trilling’s collections of essays include The Liberal Imagination (1950), The Opposing Self (1955), Beyond Culture (1965), and Sincerity and Authenticity (1972). He also wrote critical studies of the English authors Matthew Arnold and E. M. Forster. Trilling wrote one novel, The Middle of the Journey (1947), and he also wrote several short stories.
Trilling was born on July 4, 1905, in New York City and taught literature at Columbia University from 1932 to 1975. He died on Nov. 5, 1975.
