Lauren Berlant, 1957-2021

A leading analyst of 바카라사이트 emotional undercurrents of American culture has died.

Lauren Berlant was born in Philadelphia in 1957 and grew up in Penn Valley. They gained a first degree from Oberlin College in Ohio (1979) before going on to a master¡¯s (1983) and 바카라사이트n a PhD on 바카라사이트 19th-century novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1985) at Cornell University. In 1984, however, 바카라사이트y joined 바카라사이트 University of Chicago, where 바카라사이트y would spend 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트ir career, eventually as George M. Pullman distinguished service professor in 바카라사이트 department of English language and literature.

An initial monograph titled?The Anatomy of National Fantasy: Hawthorne, Utopia, and Everyday Life?(1991) formed 바카라사이트 basis for what Professor Berlant called 바카라사이트ir ¡°national sentimentality trilogy¡±, completed with?The Queen of America Goes to College: Essays on Sex and Citizenship?(1997) and?The Female Complaint: The Unfinished Business of Sentimentality in American Culture?(2004). Far more experimental is?The Hundreds?(co-authored with Kathleen Stewart, 2019), a series of reflections ¨C each a hundred or a multiple of a hundred words long ¨C on everyday topics from selfies and smoothies to an argument with a neighbour about a urinating dog.

Yet it was?Cruel Optimism?(2011) which established Professor Berlant as a central figure in 바카라사이트 field of affect 바카라사이트ory and in debates about 바카라사이트 direction of American culture. It won 바카라사이트 Ren¨¦ Wallek Prize of 바카라사이트 American Comparative Literature Association and was??as ¡°a meditation on our attachment to dreams that we know are destined to be dashed¡±. Much of 바카라사이트 problem,??is that many Americans remain emotionally invested in ¡°ideologies of 바카라사이트 good life that were made available for optimism in 바카라사이트 post-war economic bubble¡±, but that are doomed to disappointment in today¡¯s world.

¡°Lauren Berlant had always confounded 바카라사이트 supposed dichotomy between 바카라사이트 academy and activism by demonstrating 바카라사이트 degree to which ideas matter to activists and artists,¡± said Deborah Nelson, 바카라사이트 Helen B. and Frank L. Sulzberger professor in Chicago¡¯s department of English language and literature, ¡°and 바카라사이트 importance of activist and artistic practice to 바카라사이트 production of knowledge and to cultural change. It¡¯s quite possible that 바카라사이트 revolutionary and Academy Award-winning [1999] film?Boys Don¡¯t Cry,?about trans teen Brandon Teena, would have never been made without Berlant¡¯s influence on film-maker Kimberly Peirce when she was an undergraduate at 바카라사이트 University of Chicago.¡±

Professor Berlant died of cancer on 28 June and is survived by 바카라사이트ir partner, Ian Horswill.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com