''Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and Social Criticism'' is a series of periodical essays by

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...

, first published in

Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian literature, Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill, London, Cornhill in London.Laurel ...

1867–68 and collected as a book in 1869. The preface was added in 1869.Robert H. Super, ''Culture and Anarchy with Friendship's Garland and Some Literary Essays'', Volume V of ''The Complete Works of Matthew Arnold'', The University of Michigan Press, 1965. Arnold's famous piece of writing on

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

established his High Victorian cultural agenda which remained dominant in debate from the 1860s until the 1950s. According to his view advanced in the book, "Culture ..is a study of perfection". He further wrote that: " ultureseeks to do away with classes; to make the best that has been thought and known in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light ... His often quoted phrase " ulture isthe best which has been thought and said" comes from the Preface to ''Culture and Anarchy'': :The whole scope of the essay is to recommend culture as the great help out of our present difficulties; culture being a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world, and, through this knowledge, turning a stream of fresh and free thought upon our stock notions and habits, which we now follow staunchly but mechanically, vainly imagining that there is a virtue in following them staunchly which makes up for the mischief of following them mechanically. The book contains most of the terms –

, sweetness and light,

Barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

, Hebraism, and many others – which are more associated with Arnold's work influence.

Notes

References

* Robert H. Super (editor), ''The Complete Prose Works of Matthew Arnold'' in eleven volumes (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1960–1977) :Volume V: ''Culture and Anarchy with Friendship's Garland and Some Literary Essays'' (1965). * Stefan Collini (editor), ''Culture and Anarchy and other writings'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993) part of the ''Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought'' series. :Collini's introduction to this edition attempts to show that "''Culture and Anarchy'' ... has left a lasting impress upon subsequent debate about the relation between politics and culture" —Introduction, pg ix. * Lionel Trilling, ''Matthew Arnold'' (New York: Norton, 1939) * Park Honan, ''Matthew Arnold, a life'' (New York, McGraw-Hill, 1981) * Stefan Collini, Arnold (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) * Robert J.C. Young, ''Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Culture, Theory and Race'' (Routledge: London and New York, 1995) :Young demonstrates the extent of Arnold's indebtedness in his book ''Culture and Anarchy'' to the nationalist and "racial" theories of French writer Ernest Renan, whose ideas were used to rationalize and justify European colonialism.

External links

* * '' Culture and Anarchy'' at Internet Archive: 1889 print * Culture and Anarchy at Internet Archive: 1894 print * * 1869 books Works by Matthew Arnold Works originally published in The Cornhill Magazine {{cultural-studies-book-stub