Wlad Godzich (Władysław Bogusz Godzich, Wladyslaw Bogusz Godzich) (born May 13, 1945 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, raised in France) is a

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

, and scholar. He is attributed with influencing the conceptualization of modern literary critical theory.Mckenna, Barbara
New dean of humanities named at UC Santa Cruz
''UC Santa Cruz Currents'', July 31, 2000. He currently serves as Professor of general and comparative literature, and critical studies at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

.Duke University Press
boundary 2.2006; 33: 229-231
2006.

Career

Godzich has published and translated several books, edited eight collections of essays, and authored over a hundred scholarly articles, lectures, and papers.Stanford University

November 5–6, 1999. In 2000, Godzich joined the

as dean of Humanities. Prior to this, he was Professor of English (Chair of Emergent Literatures), Comparative Literature, and European Studies at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

and professor of Comparative literature at Université de Montréal. He has also held visiting appointments at the University of Silesia (Poland), the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil),

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 higher le ...

, and the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

. At the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, he was the director of the Office of Research Development, director of the comparative literature program, director of the Center for Humanistic Studies, and coordinator of their international program in Dakar, Senegal.Institute for Social Network Analysis of the Economy
ISNAE Founders
Organizer of dozens of international conferences, he also acts as consultant to many university presses and organizers of university programs in the Americas and Europe. He sits on the editorial board of multiple American, European and Asian journals, both print and electronic. His research grants have been primarily from US, Canadian, Swedish, Swiss and private agencies.Simpson, John B

July 21, 2000.

Work in the 1980s

Through his work at the

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its book ...

, Godzich brought important works of critical theory into English translation. His essays during this period were well received by critics as they were among the first to link

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

cultural criticism Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

, and third-world literatures through

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

they can now be seen as tesserae composing a theoretical mosaic of remarkable scope. The patterns of his thought emerge from his interest in the relationship between language and literacy-the latter conceived as "a determinate set of relations that we have to language." Godzich reinvigorates the semiological project proposed by Saussure but forsaken by his heirs: that of exploring the social functioning of language in its historical and rhetorical actualizations.Project MUSE
The Culture of Literacy, and: The Contingency of Theory: Pragmatism, Expressivism, and Deconstruction (review)
1995.

Selected works

*''The Emergence of Prose: An Essay in Prosaics'' (Minnesota, 1987; ) *''Philosophie einer un-europäischen Literaturkritik'' (Fink, 1989) *''Crisis of Institutionalized Literature in Spain'' (Minnesota, 1991; ) *''The Culture of Literacy'' (Harvard University Press, 1994; )

References

External links

UCSC Faculty - Wlad Godzich

Google Books - List of Wlad Godzich's publications

goodreads - Wlad Godzich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godzich, Wlad Literature educators Critical theorists American literary theorists Comparative literature academics Harvard University staff University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Columbia University alumni Polish emigrants to the United States Living people 1945 births American literary critics

Career

Work in the 1980s

Selected works

See also

References

External links