{"id":47722,"date":"2025-08-11T11:35:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T11:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=47722"},"modified":"2025-08-11T11:35:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T11:35:53","slug":"leander-moller-gottcke-the-crisis-of-liberal-democracy-in-contemporary-novel-or-the-continuation-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=47722","title":{"rendered":"Leander M\u00f8ller G\u00f8ttcke, \u201eThe Crisis of Liberal Democracy in Contemporary Novel or The Continuation of History\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This book explores how contemporary novels reflect a profound shift in Western culture, from the political optimism of the post-Cold War era to growing fears about the future of liberal democracy. Analysing four major works \u2013 Karl Ove Knausg\u00e5rd&#8217;s My Struggle series, Zadie Smith&#8217;s White Teeth, Boualem Sansal&#8217;s 2084 and Michel Houellebecq&#8217;s Submission \u2013 it shows how these novels illuminate current social discontents and engages the anxieties of our time. Where the so-called &#8220;end-of-history&#8221; narrative once promised a triumphant liberal democracy, novelistic fiction today reflects a more ominous outlook: progressives are haunted by dystopian visions of democratic decline, while reactionaries fear cultural displacement and yearn for a lost Golden Age. Bridging literary analysis and political theory, the book offers new perspectives on how literature engages with and challenges contemporary political narratives, making it a vital resource for those interested in the intersection of politics and literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduction: The Sense of an Ending<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Liberal Democracy and the Modern Novel<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Liberal Democracy and Its Discontents: Karl Ove Knausg\u00e5rd\u2019s Struggle at the End of History<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The End and Continuation of History: Zadie Smith\u2019s Critique of Francis Fukuyama in White Teeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Reactionary Dystopia: Boualem Sansal\u2019s 2084 vis-\u00e0-vis George Orwell\u2019s Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Decline and Fall of Liberal Democracy: Michel Houellebecq\u2019s Submission as Satire<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conclusion: Imaginary Futures and Political Realities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leander M\u00f8ller G\u00f8ttcke holds a PhD from the Department for the Study of Culture at the University of Southern Denmark. He currently works as a research librarian at the University Library of Southern Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>180 Pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Published April 22, 2025 by Routledge<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/The-Crisis-of-Liberal-Democracy-in-Contemporary-Novels-or-The-Continuation-of-History\/MollerGottcke\/p\/book\/9781032870441\">https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/The-Crisis-of-Liberal-Democracy-in-Contemporary-Novels-or-The-Continuation-of-History\/MollerGottcke\/p\/book\/9781032870441<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti","category-knjizevnost"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Crisis.jpg?fit=350%2C538&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52622,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52622","url_meta":{"origin":47722,"position":0},"title":"Annual CAPONEU conference: Political Novel in Europe Between Democracy and Authoritarianism","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"23. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Caponeu event 22.04.2026 - 24.04.2026 Location: The Faculty of Polish and Classical Philology AMU (Fredry 10, Pozna\u0144)Organized by: Tomasz Mizerkiewicz, Krystyna Pieni\u0105\u017cek-Markovi\u0107, Anna Gawarecka, Ewa Szperlik, Magda Potok, B\u0142a\u017cej Warkocki, Gerard Ronge (all Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna\u0144)Contact: gerron@amu.edu.pl The Adam Mickiewicz University team, as part of the international CAPONEU\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Caponeu-political-novel.jpg?fit=500%2C261&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52679,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52679","url_meta":{"origin":47722,"position":1},"title":"CfP: CHOSEN NATION(S): HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INTERPRETATIONS OF EXCEPTIONALISM, BUDAPEST, 10TH\u201311TH JUNE 2026 (DEADLINE: 1ST MAY 2026)","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"27. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ludovika University of Public Service (NKE) and the Jewish Theological Seminary \u2013 University of Jewish Studies (OR-ZSE) are pleased to announce a joint academic conference on \u201cChosen Nation(s): Historical and Cultural Interpretations of Exceptionalism\u201d, to be held in Budapest, Hungary. Chosen Nation(s): Historical and Cultural Interpretations of Exceptionalism Keynote\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52516,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52516","url_meta":{"origin":47722,"position":2},"title":"Marko Grde\u0161i\u0107, Mislav \u017ditko, \u201eSocialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"17. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This book presents a critical history of Yugoslav socialist economics, from its inception in the late 1940s to its dissolution in the late 1980s. 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Conference of the History of Concepts Group Conceptual history studies the use of concepts and tries to understand how historical actors have linguistically articulated views of the world. Studying concepts from\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53227,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53227","url_meta":{"origin":47722,"position":4},"title":"Gostuju\u0107a predavanja Paula A. 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A growing number of historical works include an autobiographical dimension, as if writing about the past required exploring the inner life of the author. 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