In this volume, Simona Goi and Frederick M. Dolan gather stimulating arguments for the indispensability of fiction—including poetry, drama, and film—as irreplaceable sites for wrestling with nature, meaning , shortcomings, and the future of modern politics. Between Terror and Freedom brings to the surface an understanding of modernity as a multifaceted and dynamic narrative as it relates to politics, philosophy, and fiction. Collecting essays across fields, Goi and Dolan challenge strict disciplinary boundaries. This is not meant to be read as another contribution to the debate of whether literature is, can, or should be political. Between Terror and Freedom instead reveals how literature illuminates and expands our understanding of philosophical and political questions. Political theorists, philosophers, cultural scholars, and rhetoricians offer a fresh perspective on the questions of our age and the paradoxes of modernity when they read literature.

Contributions by: Joseph Chytry, Marianne Constable, Joshua Foa Dienstag, Frederick Michael Dolan, Anne-Lise Francois, Jeffrey Isaac, Peter Euben, Michael MacDonald, Ramona Naddaff, Hannah Pitkin, Andrew Seligsohn, Simon Stow