The Bourgeois: Between History and Literature

Moretti (literature, Stanford Univ.; Signs Taken for Wonders) examines the notion of the 19th-century "bourgeois," their middle-class values, and well-known works such as Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe as well as lesser-known novels such as Dinah Craik's 1856 John Halifax, Gentleman. He also investigates how diction changed through the 19th century as seen in the novels' characters. Added is the expertise of theorists Georg Lukács and Max Weber, among others, and the analysis of literary databases and proper use of encoded text employed in the digital humanities. For instance, Moretti acknowledges the rise of free indirect style, the subjugation of the subjective, the emergence of description in 19th-century literature as a signifier for "reality," and makes the worthy observation that "bourgeois" style balances a line between comedy and tragedy. Moretti's style works for philosophically minded readers and yet remains a bit slippery owing to its deferment of meaning—a deferment amplified by Moretti's questionable connection of "bourgeois" to "middle class."