The Aesthetics of Clarity and Confusion

1. Introduction: Literary Activism, Clarity and Confusion
Geoffrey A. Baker

Part I. Naturalists and Nietzscheans: Codifying Clarity and Confusion

2. “For Love of Clarity”: Émile Zola, Practice, and the Political Potential of Realistic Literature
Geoffrey A. Baker

3. Grounds for Confusion: Nietzsche, Theory, and the Political Potential of Anti-Realism
Geoffrey A. Baker

Part II. Ambiguities of Activism: Complicating Clarity and Confusion

4. Between Theory and Practice: Matthew Arnold, Thomas Mann, Julien Benda, and the Purpose of the Intellectual
Geoffrey A. Baker

5. “Different Kinds of Clarity”: Science, Sense, and Utilitarian Realism in Bertolt Brecht
Geoffrey A. Baker

6. Pressing Engagement: Jean-Paul Sartre and the Aesthetic Problem of the Political
Geoffrey A. Baker

7. An Other Engagement: Simone de Beauvoir and the Ethical Problem of the Political
Geoffrey A. Baker

8. Conclusion: Contemporary Engagements with Clarity and Confusion
Geoffrey A. Baker

Keywords: Literature, Comparative Literature, Literary Theory, European Literature