William Compaine Calin (born April 4, 1936 in Newington, Connecticut, died May 20, 2018 in

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in northern Florida. It is the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which ...

) was a senior scholar of

Medieval French literature Medieval French literature is, for the purpose of this article, Medieval literature written in Oïl languages (particularly Old French and early Middle French) during the period from the eleventh century to the end of the fifteenth century. The ...

and French poetry at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. His work has focused on

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

Studies and on Franco-British literary relations.

Education and career

Calin was educated at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

(A.B. 1957) and received his Ph.D. from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1960. He was an instructor (1960–1962) and an Assistant Professor (1962–1963) at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

; Assistant Professor (1969-1965), Associate Professor (1965–1970), and Professor (1970–1973) at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

; Head of the Department of Romance Languages at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

(1973–1988), Visiting Professor (1982) and Exchange Professor (1984) at the

Université de Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...

, and Edward Arnold Visiting Professor (1987) at Whitman College. Since 1988, he has served as Graduate Research Professor (from 1998-2001 as Florida Foundation Research Professor) at the

. Calin has served on the editorial advisory boards of the journals '' Olifant'', ''Tenso'', ''Studies in Medievalism'', ''Escrituras'', and ''Medievally Speaking'', and was Guest Editor for a special issue of ''L’Ésprit Créateur'' on “The Future of Old French Studies.” His grants and honors include a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (1963–64) as well as grants from the

American Council of Learned Societies American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(1963–1964; 1968; 1996–1997), the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

(1970), the

Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (french: Fédération canadienne des sciences humaines), also known as the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, is a member-based organization and the national voice for r ...

(1981), the Fulbright Commission (1982), and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

(1984–1985, 1987–1988).

Major works

Calin's publications span topics from nine centuries and the literary and linguistic traditions of hegemonic France as well as the minority literatures of Scots,

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

, and

. He has also been a supporter and proponent of

Leslie J. Workman Leslie J. Workman (5 March 1927 in Hanwell, London, England – 1 April 2001 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA) was an independent scholar and founder of academic medievalism. Biography Workman received his education at the Russell School, London, ...

’s Medievalism Studies, serving on the advisory board of ''

Studies in Medievalism The International Society for the Study of Medievalism is an academic organization that exists to promote the interdisciplinary study of the popular and scholarly reception of the Middle Ages in postmedieval times. The Society is based on the work ...

'' and publishing on the reception of medieval culture in postmedieval times. In 2011, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, Calin was recognized by a conference section ("Makers of the Middle Ages: Papers in Honor of William Calin") at the 46th

International Congress on Medieval Studies The International Congress on Medieval Studies is an annual academic conference held for scholars specializing in, or with an interest in, medieval studies. It is sponsored by Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is held during ...

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. During the session, he was presented with a Festschrift, ''Cahier Calin: Makers of the Middle Ages. Essays in Honor of William Calin,'' to which 20 of his friends and colleagues contributed short essays.
Cahier Calin: Makers of the Middle Ages. Essays in Honor of William Calin
', ed.

Richard Utz Richard Utz (born 1961) is a German-born medievalist who has spent much of his career in North America. He specializes in medievalism, medieval studies, and served as President of the International Society for the Study of Medievalism (2009–2020) ...

and Elizabeth Emery (Kalamazoo, MI: Studies in Medievalism, 2011). *''The Old French Epic of Revolt: "Raoul de Cambrai," "Renaud de Montauban," "Gormond et Isembard."'' Geneva: Droz, 1962. 235 pp. *(with Michel Banamou) ''Aux Portes du Poème''. New York: Macmillan, 1964. 126 pp. *''The Epic Quest: Studies in Four Old French "Chansons de Geste."'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1966. 271 pp. *''La Chanson de Roland''. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968. 183 pp. *''A Poet at the Fountain: Essays on the Narrative Verse of Guillaume de Machaut''. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1974. 264 pp. *''Crown, Cross and Fleur-de-lis: An Essay on Pierre Le Moyne's Baroque Epic *"Saint Louis."'' Saratoga: Stanford French and Italian Studies, 1977. 77 pp. * ''The Nation and National issues in the ninth century France '' Groville : historical studies, 1299, 876 pp. *''A Muse for Heroes: Nine Centuries of the Epic in France''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983. 514 pp. (Gilbert Chinard First Literary Prize in 1981; American Library Association Choice Award in 1984). *''In Defense of French Poetry: An Essay in Revaluation''. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1987. 208 pp. *''The French Tradition and the Literature of Medieval England''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994. 587 pp. xvi. (American Library Association Choice Award for 1995). *''Minority Literatures and Modernism: Scots, Breton, and Occitan, 1920-1990''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000. 399 pp. ix. *''The Twentieth-Century Humanist Critics: From Spitzer to Frye''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Calin has also published more than 110 journal articles and book chapters.

References

External links

Calin's Faculty Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calin, William 1936 births American literary critics American philologists People from Newington, Connecticut Romance philologists Yale College alumni University of Florida faculty Living people Chaucer scholars