{"product_id":"optimism-literature-and-culture-in-american-capitalism-and-chinese-socialism-9780198957928","title":"Optimism, Literature, and Culture in American Capitalism and Chinese Socialism","description":"This book examines and interprets the uncanny similarity between capitalism and socialism over the twentieth century as both systems found ways to encourage happiness and optimism in their citizens. As inheritors of the Enlightenment's emphasis on scientific rationality, these cultures sought to instill in their citizens a belief in progress: in essence, history shows steady improvement, and the future will continue in this direction indefinitely. Optimism--which bears a temporal quality, a continual gaze to the future--is the favored state of mind in both capitalist and socialist societies, which have embraced progress as a theory of history. Related to optimism is happiness, which emphasizes the present. When \u003cem\u003eprogress as a theory of history\u003c\/em\u003e is generally accepted, happiness becomes a transference of future advancement into present subjectivity, ultimately expressing acceptance of, and satisfaction with, society. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFundamentally a literary study strongly embedded in history, this project looks to fiction to show not only how imaginary characters became models for readers, but also how narrative encouraged readers to engage in a struggle for new values. Characters worked out--or failed to work out--questions related to the personal and larger cultural shaping of an ongoing optimism. At the same time, writers questioned these models and, purposefully or otherwise, displayed the downsides of excessive, mandated, or coerced optimism. They also challenged the way in which optimism encompassed a belief in progress that itself could be camouflaged, and the demands for a happiness that imposed everyone else's wellbeing before one's own. The book compares Yang Mo's famous \u003cem\u003eSong of Youth\u003c\/em\u003e (1958) with Horatio Alger Jr.'s \u003cem\u003eRagged Dick\u003c\/em\u003e (1868), Eleanor Hodgman Porter's \u003cem\u003ePollyanna\u003c\/em\u003e (1913), and Frederick Kohner's \u003cem\u003eGidget \u003c\/em\u003e(1957); Wang Meng's \u003cem\u003eLong Live Youth\u003c\/em\u003e (written 1953) and \u003cem\u003eA Young Man Arrives at the Organization Department\u003c\/em\u003e (1956) are evaluated against Jack Kerouac's\u003cem\u003e On the Road \u003c\/em\u003e(1958). This study both incorporates and challenges various political and cultural theoretical concepts including revolutionary optimism, permanent revolution, the theory of literary typicality, the New Soviet Person and the positive hero, optimistic autosuggestion, cultural authenticity, and positive thinking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Wendy Larson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/09\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e Global Asias\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.28h x 6.51w x 0.75d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780198957928","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45109253996681,"sku":"9780198957928","price":100.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_bd57e1ad-19a7-4aca-9500-79ae5f03870e.jpg?v=1767073507","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/optimism-literature-and-culture-in-american-capitalism-and-chinese-socialism-9780198957928","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}