Peter Preston Brooks (born 1938)
is an American
literary theorist who is
Sterling Professor
Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered the best in his or her field. It is akin to the rank of university professor at other universities.
The appointment, made by the ...
Emeritus of Comparative Literature at
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 w ...
and Andrew W. Mellon Scholar in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Center for Human Values at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. He has been Professor in the Department of English and School of Law at the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
. Among his many accomplishments is the founding of the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University. He was elected to 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 ...
in 2003. Brooks is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work cuts across French and English literature, law, and psychoanalysis. He was influenced by fellow Yale scholar,
Paul de Man, to whom his book ''Reading for the Plot'' is dedicated.
Education
Brooks obtained his B.A. (1959) and Ph.D. (1965) from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
. He also studied at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = � ...
as a
Marshall Scholar
The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious ...
, and at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
Personal life
Brooks has five children.
On 18 July 1959, Brooks married Margaret Elisabeth Waters.
On 12 May 2001, Brooks married the law professor, author and commentator,
Rosa Brooks
Rosa Brooks ( Ehrenreich; born 1970) is an American law professor, journalist, author and commentator on foreign policy, U.S. politics and criminal justice. She is the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Policy at Georgetown University Law C ...
.
Rosa Brooks remarried.
Bibliography
Books
;Non-fiction
* ''The Novel of Worldliness: Crébillon, Marivaux, Laclos, Stendhal'' (1969)
* ''The Melodramatic Imagination: Balzac, Henry James, Melodrama, and the Mode of Excess'' (1976),
* ''Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative'' (1984),
* ''Body Work: Objects of Desire in Modern Narrative'' (1993),
* ''Psychoanalysis and Storytelling'' (1994),
* ''Law's Stories: Narrative and Rhetoric in the Law'' (co-editor with
Paul Gewirtz
Paul D. Gewirtz (born May 12, 1947) is the Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School and the Director of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale.
Biography
Gewirtz received his Bachelor of Arts degree ''summa cum laude'' from ...
, 1996),
* ''Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature'' (2000),
* ''Whose Freud? The Place of Psychoanalysis in Contemporary Culture'' (co-editor with Alex Woloch) (2000),
* ''Realist Vision'' (2005),
* ''Henry James Goes to Paris '' (2007),
* ''Enigmas of Identity'' (2011),
* ''Anthologie du mélodrame classique'' (with Myriam Faten Sfar, 2011),
* ''Flaubert in the Ruins of Paris: The Story of a Friendship, a Novel, and a Terrible Year'' (2017),
* ''Balzac's Lives'' (2020),
* ''Seduced by Story'' (2022),
;Fiction
* ''World Elsewhere'' (2000),
* ''The Emperor's Body'' (2010),
Papers
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References
External links
Emeritus Faculty bio at Yale Comp Lit departmentbio at Princeton Comp Lit department
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Peter
1938 births
Living people
Yale University faculty
Alumni of University College London
University of Paris alumni
Harvard Advocate alumni
Princeton University faculty
Yale Sterling Professors
Members of the American Philosophical Society
American expatriates in England
American expatriates in France
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy