A Modern Odyssey: Realism, the Masses, and Nationalism in George Eliot's "Felix Holt"

Abstract

Within realism's impulse or dynamic toward representation of masses lies search for ever more novel or strange, desire for discovery of new aesthetic material with which to work. Citing Goncourts as exemplary of this driven fascination with common people, Auerbach quotes Edmond de Goncourt himself, who articulates this appeal in terms that strongly echo those of imperial or colonizing impulse, seeking adventure in foreign places: the people, mob, if you will, has for me attraction of unknown and undiscovered populations, something of exoticism which travelers go to seek (498). For our purposes here what is important are textual and aesthetic determinants of such an attitude. Auerbach argues that this attitude necessarily excludes from its representation everything functionally essential, people's work, its position within modern society, political, social, and moral ferments which are alive in it and which point to future (498, emphasis added). Given this, one may well ask, what then can or does so-called industrial novel do? If, indeed, impetus motivating its representational concerns functionally precludes representation of its supposed subject matter-the working people and their work-what does industrial novel in fact represent? Raymond Williams, in his ground-breaking work Culture and Society, reads industrial novel as a genre defined by its conflicting concerns (99-119). On one hand, these novels embody a critical response to industrialism, with, in some cases, genuine sympathy for plight of working class. On other hand, in face of actual conditions of working class, they back down from any serious involvement out of fear, opting instead for a backdoor exit of sorts involving either death or emigration-to a new world, often New World--of their politically engaged and potentially militant protagonists.