Literary Hangover is a podcast, released twice on Saturdays each month, in which Matt Lech and his friends chat about fiction and the historical, social, and political forces behind the creation of it and represented by it.

19 - 'The Soul of Man under Socialism' by Oscar Wilde (1891)
play_circle_outlinepause_circle_outline
00:00:00
02:28:19

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and get occasional premium content, become a member at patreon.com/LiteraryHangover

Today, joining Matt (@MattLech) and Alex (@Alecks_Guns) is David Griscom (@DavidGriscom) of The Michael Brooks Show and sinthome.com. We're discussing Oscar Wilde's 1891 essay, 'The Soul of Man under Socialism' and it's continued, though submerged, relevance.

How earnest is Oscar Wilde's socialism? Oscar Wilde's mother as a revolutionary poet in Dublin during the great famine. Wilde's opposition to private property. Private property vs. Personal property. William Morris and a brief look into the socialistic/medieval nostalgic Arts & Crafts movement. Matt misuses the word "triage." Oscar Wilde, a fully-automated luxury space communist? Oscar Wilde's criminal justice bona fides. What's the role of the state in Wilde's anarcho-socialism?

Sources:

Full audiobook:

https://librivox.org/the-soul-of-man-by-oscar-wilde/

'Some Notes on Wilde's Socialism,' Peter van de Kamp and Patrick Leahy. The Crane Bag, Vol. 7, No. 1, Socialism & Culture (1983), pp. 141-150

O'Sullivan, Emer. 2016. The Fall of the House of Wilde: Oscar Wilde and his Family.