Eugene Goodheart (June 26, 1931 – April 9, 2020) was an American literary scholar. He was Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities at Brandeis University from 1983 to 2001.[1]

Eugene Goodheart
Born(1931-06-26)June 26, 1931
Brooklyn, New York, United States
DiedApril 9, 2020(2020-04-09) (aged 88)
EducationColumbia University (BA, PhD)
University of Virginia (MA)
Occupation(s)Literary critic, professor
EmployerBrandeis University
Known forLiterary criticism
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship (1970)

Biography

edit

Goodheart was born on June 26, 1931, in Brooklyn.[2] He received his B.A. from Columbia College, M.A. from the University of Virginia, and Ph.D. from Columbia University in English and Comparative Literature in 1953.[1][3] At Columbia, Goodheart studied under Lionel Trilling.[1]

Goodheart served on the faculty of Bard College, University Chicago, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University, where he was the chairman of the English department.[1]

He joined the Brandeis faculty in 1983 as Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities and served as the chair of its English department.[1] He also directed the Brandeis Center for the Humanities.[2] He authored a number of books on literary theory and criticism as well as political and social commentary.[4][5] Among his students at Brandeis University was Chinese American writer Ha Jin.[6]

Goodheart received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1970 in literary criticism.[7] He was also a National Humanities Center fellow in 1987–1988.[8] He received an honorary doctorate from the City University of New York in 2014, for his “brilliant and provocative contributions to humanist criticism and scholarship.”[9]

Personal life and family

edit

Goodheart died on April 9, 2020, at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts.[2] He was a close friend of Saul Bellow, who also taught at Bard College.[10] According to biographer Zachary Leader, Bellow asked Goodheart on his deathbed, "Was I a man or was I a jerk?" To which Goodheart replied, "You were a good man."[11][12]

He was married to Wellesley College anthropologist Joan Bamberger until his death.[2][13]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e "Eugene Goodheart". www.brandeis.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  2. ^ a b c d "EUGENE GOODHEART Obituary (2020) New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  3. ^ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. ^ Cain, William E. (2013-12-01). "Eugene Goodheart, Holding the Center: In Defense of Political Trimming". Society. 50 (6): 641–645. doi:10.1007/s12115-013-9727-0. ISSN 1936-4725. S2CID 145174106.
  5. ^ Hogge, Robert M. (2001). "Does Literary Studies Have a Future? by Eugene Goodheart (review)". Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. 55 (2): 131–132. ISSN 1948-2833.
  6. ^ "最会用英语写作的中国人哈金:没有国家的人-搜狐文化频道". cul.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  7. ^ "Eugene Goodheart". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  8. ^ "Eugene Goodheart, 1987–1988". National Humanities Center. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  9. ^ "Homepage". www.gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  10. ^ Leader, Zachary (2015). The Life of Saul Bellow: To Fame and Fortune, 1915-1964. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-38893-3.
  11. ^ Malley, JP O’. "How Saul Bellow broke the WASPs' hold on literature". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  12. ^ "The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965–2005 review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  13. ^ "Opinion | 'Are the Armenians There Wiped Out?'". The New York Times. 1985-06-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-26.