... it claims “to distinguish social agency from individual agency” (3), it treats agency in operation as fundamentally a liberal formulation, generated by interest (whether directly self-interested or not) and built on individual intentionality even at the collective level. What Vanden Bossche wishes to call...

... align its formal irresolution with progressive attitudes toward ideological debate ( Lewis, “Democratic” 247–49 ). 1 But formal and argumentative irresolution make shaky grounds for political claims. Does the mode of argument exemplify democracy or dysfunction? In Chris Vanden Bossche's view, arguing...

... to the erasure of a written text. In the context of the novel, “to obliterate” would refer to the erasure of printed text. 3 For more on class conflict in Bleak House , see Chris R. Vanden Bossche . 4 Jonathan Arac has argued that Bleak House was inspired by Carlyle's The French...