The Imagination of Freedom: Critical Texts and Times in Liberal Literature

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The political history of modern times can be characterized essentially as the struggle for freedom. Concomitantly, much significant contemporary literature has concerned itself with the idea of human freedom.

In "The Imagination of Freedom, " Andrew Foley explores the work of a number of writers who have responded, from a liberal viewpoint, to critical moments in contemporary political history when such freedom has come under severe threat. These writers have used the power of the creative imagination to provide a critique of the illiberal practices of their times and to reassert an alternative vision of a free and open society.

Foley presents a detailed, contextualized discussion of the work of Alan Paton, Chinua Achebe, Ken Kesey, Seamus Heaney, Fay Weldon, Athol Fugard, Mario Vargas Llosa, Ian McEwan and others, in order to reassess the signifi cance of the work of these writers from a contemporary perspective; to clarify their political vision as liberal writers; and more generally to develop a case for liberalism as a coherent and compelling political philosophy.