The Public, the Private, and the Intimate: Richard Sennett’s and Lauren Berlant’s Cultural Criticism in Dialogue

This essay investigates similarities and differences in Sennett’s and Berlant’s understanding and assessment of the altered balance between the public and the intimate in American society since the nineteenth century. While Sennett warns of the growing tyranny of intimacy, Berlant stresses the power of shared intimate knowledge and experience. Both views are problematized in a brief discussion of a sample of contemporary autobiographical texts.