Introduction: Cosmopolitan Conversations, 1940–2020

Abstract

Abstract This chapter introduces the reader to the methodology of the volume, which draws inspiration from theories of cosmopolitanism as articulated by thinkers like Kwame Anthony Appiah, David Hollinger, Martha Nussbaum, and Bryan Turner, and from the model of culture as the interplay of dominant, residual, and emergent forms first articulated by Raymond Williams. It proposes that the history of the US novel after 1940 should be seen through its intersections with a number of other histories, including (1) the history of literary forms; (2) the history of narrative forms; (3) the history of the book; (4) the history of media; and (5) the history of higher education in the United States. It argues that the organization of the volume into chapters and “exempla” is designed to create a “meta” literary history that highlights the inevitable questions about the inclusion and exclusion of particular texts, authors, and genres.