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Two Cheers for Democracy

{{Short description|1951 essay collection by E. M. Forster}}

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| author = E.M. Forster

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| pub_date = 1951

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Two Cheers for Democracy is the second collection of essays by E. M. Forster, published in 1951, and incorporating material from 1936 onwards.

Reflecting Forster's increasing politicisation in the 1930s,D.S. Kastan ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature (2006) p. 211 particularly in the first section entitled 'The Second Darkness', the collection contains versions of his anti-Nazi broadcasts of 1940, as well as his defence of individualism as "a liberal who has found liberalism crumbling beneath him"E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy (1965) p. 83 in the face of the rise of totalitarianism.

Themes

The collection was arranged thematically, not chronologically,J. M. Heath ed., The Creator as Critic and Other Writings by E. M. Forster (2006) Appendix with the political first section followed by a second, more cultural part, 'What I Believe', containing Forster's reflection on art in general, as well as on particular artists ranging from John Skelton to Syed Ross Masood.E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy (1965) p. 7-8

Part One saw Forster struggling to articulate his quiet liberalism,D. and M. Ravitch, The English Reader (2006) p. 424 and his concern for the individual,I. Ousby ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (1995) p. 342 in the face not only of continental totalitarianism, but also of both right-wing xenophobia and left-wing extremism at home.Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (1996) p. 618 The book's title comes from the end of the sixth paragraph of "What I Believe" (http://spichtinger.net/otexts/believe.html). Seen widely as out-of-step and ineffective at the time, his writings have perhaps worn better than many of their more strident counterparts--Stanley Cavell for example praising him a half-century later for the honesty of his concrete efforts to weigh up the competing ethical claims of public and private spheres, country and friends.Stanley Cavell, Cavell on Film'' (2003) p. 153

In Part Two, Forster both enunciated and exemplified his belief in the arts and culture as an (inner) ordering principle in lifeR. Martin, The Light that Failed (1974) p. 197 - providing it with a celebratory sense of meaning.D. and M. Ravitch, The English Reader (2006) p. 424 As he himself put it:E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy (1965) p. 11

I have found by experience that the arts act as an antidote against our present troubles, and also as a support to our common humanity.

Editions

  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=1951 | title=Two cheers for democracy | edition=First American | publication-place=New York | publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Company | lccn=51013652 | oclc=364466 | asin=B0CQQ5TD2N | id=GoodReads:[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/129837888 129837888]. | url=https://archive.org/details/twocheersfordemo0000unse_h5a5/page/n8}} {{page count|xvi, 363 }}. Blank grey hardcover with blue book jacket.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=1951 | title=Two cheers for democracy | publication-place=London | publisher=Edward Arnold & Co. | isbn=978-1-125-90738-2 | lccn=52037988 | oclc=3219023 | asin=B0000CI23K | id=GoodReads:[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36013867 36013867]. | url=https://archive.org/details/twocheersfordemo0000fors_q1o8/page/n6 }} {{page count|371}}. ISBN assigned by University of Michigan Library. [https://archive.org/details/twocheersfordemo00forsrich Cover image].
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=1962 | title=Two cheers for democracy | series=A Harvest Book | publisher=Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. | publication-place=New York | oclc=365419 | url=https://archive.org/details/twocheersfordemo0000unse_z2n8/page/n6 }} {{page count|xvi, 363}}. Exclamation cover.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=24 January 1962 | title=Two cheers for democracy | series=A Harvest Book | publisher=Mariner Books | publication-place=New York | isbn=978-0-15-692025-4 | oclc=1465114670 | id=GoodReads:[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1082394 1082394]. GoodReads:[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46045811 46045811].}} {{page count|384}}. Exclamation cover.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=1965 | title=Two cheers for democracy | publisher=Penguin Books | id=GoodReads:[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32890292 32890292]}} {{page count|365}}. Abstract art cover.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | year=1965 | title=Two cheers for democracy | publisher=Penguin Books | publication-place=Harmondsworth | isbn=978-0-14-002362-6 | oclc=12036724 | url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/hw8v9bdx}} {{page count|366}}. Caricature cover.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=1972 | title=Two cheers for democracy | series=The Abinger edition of E.M. Forster | volume=11 | publisher=Edward Arnold | publication-place=London | isbn=978-0-7131-5658-4 | lccn=73175130 | oclc=752526 | url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.3752}} {{page count|xiv, 409}}. Purple cover.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=1977 | title=Two cheers for democracy | series=A Harvest Book | publisher=Harcourt Brace and Company | publication-place=San Diego | isbn=978-0-15-692025-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/twocheersfordemo00fors/page/n6}} {{page count|xii, 363}}. Exclamation cover.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | year=1977 | title=Two cheers for democracy | series=A Harvest Book | publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich | publication-place=San Diego | isbn=978-0-15-692394-1 | oclc=13285280}} {{page count|xvi, 363}}. Note: ISBN is also used for another work.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=28 February 1978 | title=Two cheers for democracy | series=The Abinger edition of E.M. Forster | volume=11 | publication-place=New York | publisher=Holmes & Meier | isbn=978-0-8419-5808-1 | oclc=9548685 }} {{page count|xiv, 409}}.
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=20 March 2023 | title=Two cheers for democracy | publisher=Persephone Books | isbn=978-1-910263-36-5 | url=https://persephonebooks.co.uk/products/two-cheers-for-democracy}}
  • {{cite book | last=Forster | first=Edward Morgan | author-mask=1 | date=2024 | title=Two cheers for democracy | publication-place=Tel Aviv | publisher=IWP Books | url=https://iwpbooks.me/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/democracy-book.pdf}} {{page count|xii, 442}}.

See also

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References

{{Reflist|2|}}

External links

  • [http://emforster.de/hypertext/template.php3?t=tc Two Cheers for Democracy]

{{E. M. Forster}}

Category:Books by E. M. Forster