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" Seen widely as out-of-step and ineffective at the time, his writings have perhaps worn better than many of Forester's more strident counterpart: Stanley Cavell, for example, praised 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 . Blank grey hardcover with blue book jacket. . ISBN assigned by University of Michigan Library. Cover image. . Exclamation cover. . Exclamation cover. . Abstract art cover. . Caricature cover. . Purple cover. . Exclamation cover. . Note: ISBN is also used for another work. .
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External links Two Cheers for Democracy