Paul Cantor
Encyclopedia
Paul A. Cantor is a wide-ranging American
literary critic inspired by the Austrian School
of economic thought.
As a young man Cantor attended Ludwig von Mises
' seminars. He went on to study English literature at Harvard
(A.B., 1966, Ph.D., 1971). He has taught for many years at the University of Virginia
, USA, where he is the Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English.
Cantor has written on a wide range of subjects, including Shakespeare
, Romanticism
, Leo Strauss
, New Historicism
, Austrian economics
, postcolonial novels, contemporary popular culture
, and relations between culture and commerce. His books include Shakespeare's Rome (1974), Creature and Creator: Myth-Making and English Romanticism (1984), Shakespeare: Hamlet (1989), and Gilligan Unbound (2003). He is also editor, with Stephen Cox, of Literature and the Economics of Liberty: Spontaneous Order in Culture (2010), which explores the ways one can use Austrian economics to understand elements of literature.
Cantor was featured in a 2004 article published in Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture 1900 to Present in which he was described as "a preeminent scholar in the field of American popular culture studies." Professor Cantor has published on Oscar Wilde
, Salman Rushdie and Samuel Beckett
. He has won the Ludwig von Mises Prize for Scholarship in Austrian School Economics. In his latest book, Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, he turns his academic eye to four popular American television shows: Gilligan's Island
, Star Trek
, The Simpsons
, and The X-Files
.
A series of ten audio/video lectures by Paul A. Cantor on Commerce and Culture at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, USA (2006). The series features themes such as
Other publications by Paul A. Cantor:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
literary critic inspired by the Austrian School
Austrian School
The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have...
of economic thought.
As a young man Cantor attended Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian economist, philosopher, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the modern Libertarian movement and the "Austrian School" of economic thought.-Biography:-Early life:...
' seminars. He went on to study English literature at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(A.B., 1966, Ph.D., 1971). He has taught for many years at 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...
, USA, where he is the Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English.
Cantor has written on a wide range of subjects, including Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss was a political philosopher and classicist who specialized in classical political philosophy. He was born in Germany to Jewish parents and later emigrated to the United States...
, New Historicism
New Historicism
New Historicism is a school of literary theory, grounded in critical theory, that developed in the 1980s, primarily through the work of the critic Stephen Greenblatt, and gained widespread influence in the 1990s....
, Austrian economics
Austrian School
The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have...
, postcolonial novels, contemporary popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, and relations between culture and commerce. His books include Shakespeare's Rome (1974), Creature and Creator: Myth-Making and English Romanticism (1984), Shakespeare: Hamlet (1989), and Gilligan Unbound (2003). He is also editor, with Stephen Cox, of Literature and the Economics of Liberty: Spontaneous Order in Culture (2010), which explores the ways one can use Austrian economics to understand elements of literature.
Cantor was featured in a 2004 article published in Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture 1900 to Present in which he was described as "a preeminent scholar in the field of American popular culture studies." Professor Cantor has published on Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, Salman Rushdie and Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
. He has won the Ludwig von Mises Prize for Scholarship in Austrian School Economics. In his latest book, Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, he turns his academic eye to four popular American television shows: Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
, Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, and The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
.
External links
- Cantor's home page at virginia.edu
A series of ten audio/video lectures by Paul A. Cantor on Commerce and Culture at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, USA (2006). The series features themes such as
- The Economic Basis of Culture
- The Economics of Modernism
- The Economics of Classical Music: Patronage vs. the Market
- The Economics of Painting: Patronage vs. the Market
- The Serialized Novel in the Nineteenth Century
- Totalitarianism and the Arts in the 20th Century
Other publications by Paul A. Cantor:
- Austrian economic and culture: An interview with Paul Cantor 2001
- Cantor's articles at reason.com
- Cantor's texts at mises.org
- Cantor's article "This Is Not Your Father's FBI" (On the X-Files) 2001
- Conversation with Paul A. Cantor on popular American culture (2005)
- Cantor's article "Popular Culture and Spontaneous Order or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Tube" (2006)
- Cantor's review article "Economic and Cultural Globalization" (2007)
- Cantor's recent book, co-edited with Stephen Cox: Literature and the Economics of Liberty: Spontaneous Order in Culture (2009).
- An hour long audio-presentation of the above book (2010) by Paul A. Cantor
- A short REASON.TV-interview with Cantor about the above book (October 2010)