The 'invisible hand' and British fiction, 1818-1860
Subtitle: Adam Smith, political economy, and the genre of realism
By: by Eleanor Courtemanche
Series: Palgrave studies in nineteenth-century writing and culture; Palgrave studies in nineteenth-century writing and culture
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 251
ISBN-13: 9780230290785
Subjects: Economics in literature; Capitalism and literature; History and criticism; Influence; Capitalism in literature; Social problems in literature; English fiction; History
Description: Some economic ideas are too interesting to be left to economists. This book argues that Adam Smith's metaphor of the 'invisible hand' ₆ in which selfish economic actions are mysteriously transformed into aggregate social benefits in a capitalist economy ₆ implies an entire spatial and temporal system in which the morality of any particular action can only be understood in the context of society as a whole. The 'Invisible Hand' and British Fiction argues that while political economists focused only on the optimistic outcomes of capitalist moral activity, Smith's model of ironic morality also influenced the work of novelists including Austen, Dickens, Martineau, Thackeray, Gaskell, and Eliot. Their realist novels represent the reconciliation between individual ignorance and systemic overview as much less stable than the economic synthesis, using omniscient narrative voices, multiple perspectives, and humor to depict a wide variety of possible outcomes. Smith shares with the realists a vision of modern society that is structured around a fragile trust in the benefits of unintended consequences.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.