Bill Brown (critical theory)
Encyclopedia
Bill Brown is a professor of English at the University of Chicago
. He occupies the named chair previously held by Wayne Booth and has served as the chair of the University's English Language and Literature Department. His work focuses on American literature
, with his second book, A Sense of Things, looking at the representation of objects in 19th century American literature. His interests have since progressed to modernism
. He also has a long-standing interest in popular culture, and has written about Toy Story
and Westerns, among other facets of American life.
His major theoretical work is on Thing theory
, which borrows from Heidegger
's object/thing distinction to look the role of objects that have become manifest in a way that sets them apart from the world in which they exist. He edited a special issue of Critical Inquiry
on this subject, which won awards for best special issue of an academic journal in 2001. His essay, "The Dark Wood of Postmodernity (Space, Faith, Allegory)," which treats religious themes in the work of Marxian cultural theorist Frederic Jameson and in postmodern culture generally, was awarded the Modern Language Association
's William Riley Parker Prize in 2005.
Prof. Brown has a B.A. from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University's Modern Thought and Literature program.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He occupies the named chair previously held by Wayne Booth and has served as the chair of the University's English Language and Literature Department. His work focuses on American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
, with his second book, A Sense of Things, looking at the representation of objects in 19th century American literature. His interests have since progressed to modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. He also has a long-standing interest in popular culture, and has written about Toy Story
Toy Story
Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's first feature film as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely with CGI. The film was directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen...
and Westerns, among other facets of American life.
His major theoretical work is on Thing theory
Thing theory
Thing theory is a branch of critical theory that focuses on the role of things in literature and culture. It borrows from Heidegger's distinction between objects and things, whereby an object becomes a thing when it is somehow made to stand out against the backdrop of the world in which it exists...
, which borrows from Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
's object/thing distinction to look the role of objects that have become manifest in a way that sets them apart from the world in which they exist. He edited a special issue of Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by the University of Chicago Press. It is considered a leading journal within literary studies, and particularly in the field of critical theory....
on this subject, which won awards for best special issue of an academic journal in 2001. His essay, "The Dark Wood of Postmodernity (Space, Faith, Allegory)," which treats religious themes in the work of Marxian cultural theorist Frederic Jameson and in postmodern culture generally, was awarded the Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...
's William Riley Parker Prize in 2005.
Prof. Brown has a B.A. from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University's Modern Thought and Literature program.
Selected publications
- "Object Relations in an Expanded Field," differences (Fall 2006)
- "Reification, Reanimation, and the American Uncanny," Critical InquiryCritical InquiryCritical Inquiry is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by the University of Chicago Press. It is considered a leading journal within literary studies, and particularly in the field of critical theory....
(Winter 2005) - "The Dark Wood of Postmodernity (Space, Faith, Allegory)," in PMLA (May 2005)
- "The Matter of Dreiser's Modernity," in The Cambridge Companion to Theodore Dreiser (2004)
- A Sense of Things: The Object Matter of American Literature (University of Chicago PressUniversity of Chicago PressThe University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
, 2003) - "The Secret Life of Things: Virginia Woolf and the Matter of Modernism," Aesthetic Subjects (Minnesota, 2003)
- Things, a special issue of Critical InquiryCritical InquiryCritical Inquiry is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by the University of Chicago Press. It is considered a leading journal within literary studies, and particularly in the field of critical theory....
(Fall 2001) - "How To Do Things With Things-A Toy Story," in Critical Inquiry (Summer 1998)
- Reading the West: An Anthology of Dime Novels (1997)
- "Global Bodies / Postnationalities: Charles Johnson's Consumer Culture," Representations (Spring 1997)
- The Material Unconscious: American Amusement, Stephen Crane, and the Economies of Play (1996)
- "Science Fiction, the World's Fair, and the Presthetics of Empire, 1910-1915," Cultures of U.S. Imperialism (Duke, 1993)
- "The Meaning of Baseball in 1992 (With Notes on the Post-American," Public Culture (Fall 1991)