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Martin Puchner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martin Puchner is a literary critic and philosopher. He now is the Byron and Anita Wien Chair of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University.[1] He is the founding director of the Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research at Harvard University.

His early work as a literary critic focused on modernism, especially such genres as the closet drama,[2] the literary manifesto,[3] and modern drama.[4] His philosophical work concerns the philosophical dialogue and the intersections of theater and philosophy.[5] His recent work focuses on large-scale projects in literature,[clarification needed] technology, and cultural history. He is the general editor of the Norton Anthology of World Literature and lectures on world literature.[6]

Education

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He studied at Konstanz University, the University of Bologna, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, before receiving his Ph.D. at Harvard University.[when?]

Career

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Until 2009 he held the H. Gordon Garbedian Chair at Columbia University, where he also served as co-chair of the Theater Ph.D. program.[7]

In 2017, he published The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization.[8] The book won advance praise from Margaret Atwood.[9] The book was widely reviewed and translated into twenty languages.[10]

On October 13, 2020, W. W. Norton & Company published his book, The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate.[11][12] The book provides a familial account of the Germanic cant called Rotwelsch. It was long-listed for the Wingate Prize.[13] Writing for The Guardian Michael Rosen called it "A book about history, language and culture wrapped up in a detective story... It feels as if the writer is peeling back the skin to reveal Germany. I found it fascinating."[14]

In 2022 he published Literature for a Changing Language, based on the inaugural Lectures in European History at Oxford University.[15] It calls for a new approach to storytelling in an era of climate change.[16] Publisher's Weekly described the book as "a stirring manifesto."[17][dubious – discuss]

In 2023, he published Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-pop,[18] which provides a global introduction to the arts and humanities. It was shortlisted for Phi Beta Kappa's 2024 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award.[19]

Honors

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In 2017, he won a Guggenheim Fellowship.[20] He currently is a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library.[21]

Bibliography

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  • 2002; 2011: Stage Fright: Modernism, Anti-theatricality and Drama. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • 2003: Against Theatre: Creative Destructions on the Modernist Stage. Editor, with Alan Ackerman. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • 2003: Six Plays by Henrik Ibsen, with an introduction and notes by Martin Puchner. New York: Barnes and Noble.
  • 2005: Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings. With an introduction and notes by Martin Puchner. New York: Barnes and Noble.
  • 2006: Theaterfeinde: Die anti-theatralischen Dramatiker der Moderne. Translated by Jan Kuveler. Freiburg: Rombach.
  • 2006: Poetry of the Revolution: Marx, Manifestos, and the Avant-Gardes. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Winner of the James Russell Lowell Award.[22]
  • 2007: Modern Drama: Critical Concepts. New York: Routledge ISBN 978-0-415-38660-9
  • 2009: The Norton Anthology of Drama. Co-editor. New York: Norton.
  • 2010: The Drama of Ideas: Platonic Provocations in Theater and Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. Winner of the 2012 Joe A. Callaway Prize for best book in drama or theater.
  • 2012: "The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 3rd edition." General editor. New York: Norton.
  • 2017: "The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization. New York: Random House, 2017.
  • 2020: The Language of Thieves. New York: Norton.
  • 2022: Literature for a Changing Planet. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • 2022: Culture: A new world history. UK: Efinito. Published in the USA in 2023 as Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-pop. New York: Norton.

References

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  1. ^ "Faculty of Arts & Sciences". Harvard University.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Stage Fright: Modernism, Anti-theatricality, and Drama (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002) ISBN 0-8018-6855-6
  3. ^ Poetry of the Revolution: Marx, Manifestos, and the Avant-Gardes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006) ISBN 0-691-12260-1
  4. ^ Modern Drama: Critical Concepts (New York: Routledge, 2007) ISBN 978-0-415-38660-9
  5. ^ The Drama of Ideas: Platonic Provocations in Theater and Philosophy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) ISBN 0-19-973032-6
  6. ^ "Martin Puchner -- H. Gordon Garbedian Chair in English and Comparative Literature". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  7. ^ Columbia U English & Comparative Literature faculty profiles Archived March 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "The Written World by Martin Puchner | PenguinRandomHouse.com". Archived from the original on 2017-09-25.
  9. ^ @MargaretAtwood (18 June 2017). "The Written World: How Literature Shaped Civilization, by Martin Puchner: coming in Nov. Well worth a read, to find out how come we read..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Editions of The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization". Goodreads.
  11. ^ "The Language of Thieves". WW Norton.
  12. ^ "The Secret Code That Threatened Nazi Fantasies of Racial Purity". New York Times. 13 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Krauss, de Waal and Puchner make Wingate Prize longlist". The Bookseller.
  14. ^ "The Language of Thieves: The Story of Rotwelsch and One Family's Secret History". goodreads.
  15. ^ "Literature for a Changing Planet". Princeton University Press. 8 February 2022.
  16. ^ Balch, Oliver (10 June 2022). "Literature for a Changing Planet — can storytelling save our climate?". Financial Times.
  17. ^ "Literature for a Changing Planet". Publisher's Weekly.
  18. ^ "Culture". Norton. WW Norton. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop". The Key Reporter. 89 (4): 10–11. Winter 2024–2025. ISSN 0023-0804 – via Phi Beta Kappa.
  20. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Martin Puchner".
  21. ^ "The New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Announces 2017-2018 Fellows".
  22. ^ "James Russell Lowell Prize Winners | Modern Language Association". Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
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