Two Cheers for Democracy

Abinger Harvest

Author	E.M. Forster
Language	English
Genre	Non-fiction
Publication date	1951
Publication place	United Kingdom

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, ^[1] 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" ^[2] in the face of the rise of totalitarianism.

Themes

The collection was arranged thematically, not chronologically, ^[3] 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. ^[4]

Part One saw Forster struggling to articulate his quiet liberalism, ^[5] and his concern for the individual, ^[6] in the face not only of continental totalitarianism, but also of both right-wing xenophobia and left-wing extremism at home. ^[7] 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. ^[8]

In Part Two, Forster both enunciated and exemplified his belief in the arts and culture as an (inner) ordering principle in life ^[9] - providing it with a celebratory sense of meaning. ^[10] As he himself put it: ^[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

• — (1951). Two cheers for democracy (First American ed.). New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. ASIN   B0CQQ5TD2N. LCCN   51013652. OCLC   364466. GoodReads:129837888.xvi, 363 pages. Blank grey hardcover with blue book jacket.
• — (1951). Two cheers for democracy. London: Edward Arnold & Co. ASIN   B0000CI23K. ISBN   978-1-125-90738-2. LCCN   52037988. OCLC   3219023. GoodReads:36013867.371 pages. ISBN assigned by University of Michigan Library. Cover image.
• — (1962). Two cheers for democracy. A Harvest Book. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. OCLC   365419.xvi, 363 pages. Exclamation cover.
• — (24 January 1962). Two cheers for democracy. A Harvest Book. New York: Mariner Books. ISBN   978-0-15-692025-4. OCLC   1465114670. GoodReads:1082394. GoodReads:46045811.384 pages. Exclamation cover.
• — (1965). Two cheers for democracy. Penguin Books. GoodReads:32890292.365 pages. Abstract art cover.
• — (1965). Two cheers for democracy. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN   978-0-14-002362-6. OCLC   12036724.366 pages. Caricature cover.
• — (1972). Two cheers for democracy. The Abinger edition of E.M. Forster. Vol. 11. London: Edward Arnold. ISBN   978-0-7131-5658-4. LCCN   73175130. OCLC   752526.xiv, 409 pages. Purple cover.
• — (1977). Two cheers for democracy. A Harvest Book. San Diego: Harcourt Brace and Company. ISBN   978-0-15-692025-4.xii, 363 pages. Exclamation cover.
• — (1977). Two cheers for democracy. A Harvest Book. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN   978-0-15-692394-1. OCLC   13285280.xvi, 363 pages. Note: ISBN is also used for another work.
• — (28 February 1978). Two cheers for democracy. The Abinger edition of E.M. Forster. Vol. 11. New York: Holmes & Meier. ISBN   978-0-8419-5808-1. OCLC   9548685.xiv, 409 pages.
• — (20 March 2023). Two cheers for democracy. Persephone Books. ISBN   978-1-910263-36-5.
• — (2024). Two cheers for democracy (PDF). Tel Aviv: IWP Books.xii, 442 pages.

See also

• Bloomsbury Group
• Hogarth Press
• Mrs. Miniver
• The London Library
• Poet as legislator
• Principia Ethica
• Toleration
• What I Believe (E. M. Forster essay)

References

1. D.S. Kastan ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature (2006) p. 211
2. E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy (1965) p. 83
3. J. M. Heath ed., The Creator as Critic and Other Writings by E. M. Forster (2006) Appendix
4. E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy (1965) p. 7-8
5. D. and M. Ravitch, The English Reader (2006) p. 424
6. I. Ousby ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (1995) p. 342
7. Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (1996) p. 618
8. Stanley Cavell, Cavell on Film (2003) p. 153
9. R. Martin, The Light that Failed (1974) p. 197
10. D. and M. Ravitch, The English Reader (2006) p. 424
11. E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy (1965) p. 11

External links

• Two Cheers for Democracy