Jay Clayton (critic)
Encyclopedia
Jay Clayton is a literary critic
who specializes in contemporary American fiction and Victorian literature
. He has written on literature and digital technology, the representation of genetics in fiction
and film
, and literary theory
. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English at Vanderbilt University
.
. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia
in 1979. He taught English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison before moving to Vanderbilt University in 1988. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1999. As Chair of the English department at Vanderbilt from 2003 to 2010, he helped recruit renowned professors to the university.
His first book Vision and the Novel, published by Cambridge University Press in 1987, compared Victorian realist fiction with romantic poetry. His book on multiculturalism in American fiction and theory, of Babel: Contemporary American Literature and Theory, published by Oxford University Press in 1993, was selected by Choice as An Outstanding Academic Book for 1995. His most recent volume, Dickens in Cyberspace: The Afterlife of the Nineteenth Century in Postmodern Culture was published by Oxford University Press in 2003. It traced the concealed circuits that connected the telegraph with the internet, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine with the digital computer, Frankenstein's monster with cyborgs and clones, and Charles Dickens's works with contemporary novels, films, comic books, and consumer culture. It won the Suzanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize for Interdisciplinary Scholarship in 2005.
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
who specializes in contemporary American fiction and Victorian literature
Victorian literature
Victorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria . It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century....
. He has written on literature and digital technology, the representation of genetics in fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, and literary theory
Literary theory
Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. However, literary scholarship since the 19th century often includes—in addition to, or even instead of literary theory in the strict sense—considerations of...
. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
.
Academic career
Clayton attended the Hill School, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania before going to Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
in 1979. He taught English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison before moving to Vanderbilt University in 1988. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1999. As Chair of the English department at Vanderbilt from 2003 to 2010, he helped recruit renowned professors to the university.
His first book Vision and the Novel, published by Cambridge University Press in 1987, compared Victorian realist fiction with romantic poetry. His book on multiculturalism in American fiction and theory, of Babel: Contemporary American Literature and Theory, published by Oxford University Press in 1993, was selected by Choice as An Outstanding Academic Book for 1995. His most recent volume, Dickens in Cyberspace: The Afterlife of the Nineteenth Century in Postmodern Culture was published by Oxford University Press in 2003. It traced the concealed circuits that connected the telegraph with the internet, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine with the digital computer, Frankenstein's monster with cyborgs and clones, and Charles Dickens's works with contemporary novels, films, comic books, and consumer culture. It won the Suzanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize for Interdisciplinary Scholarship in 2005.