Introduction

literary activism, clarity and confusion

1-28

"For love of clarity"

Émile Zola, practice, and the political potential of realistic literature

31-61

Grounds for confusion

Nietzsche, theory, and the political potential of anti-realism

63-95

Between theory and practice

Matthew Arnold, Thomas Mann, Julien Benda, and the purpose of the intellectual

99-130

"Different kinds of clarity"

science, sense, and utilitarian realism in Bertolt Brecht

131-161

Pressing engagement

Jean-Paul Sartre and the aesthetic problem of the political

163-190

An other engagement

Simone de Beauvoir and the ethical problem of the political

191-217

Conclusion

contemporary engagements with clarity and confusion

Amy E. Varela

219-245