Derek Attridge FBA (born 6 May 1945) is a South African-born British academic in the field of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and a current Professor of English at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...

, a post he has held since 2003. Attridge undertakes research in South African literature,

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

, deconstruction and

literary theory 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, mor ...

and the performance of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

. He wrote a monograph on South African writer J. M. Coetzee.Gaylard, Gerald. "Derek Attridge J. M. Coetzee And The Ethics Of Reading: Literature In The Event Pietermaritzburg." English In Africa 1 (2006): 151. ''Literature Resource Center''. Web. 31 Aug. 2014. Professor Attridge's new work, ''The Cambridge History of South African Literature'', co-edited with Prof David Atwell of York, is the 10th work by Professor Attridge published by Cambridge University Press.

Education

Attridge received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(BA) from Natal University in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

before moving to the UK to complete his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA) and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

. He was a professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

until 1997, when he moved to the University of York.

Selected publications

*''Well-weighed Syllables: Elizabethan Verse in Classical Metres'' Cambridge University Press, 1974 *''The Rhythms of English Poetry'' Longman, 1982 *''Post-structuralist Joyce'' (co-edited with Daniel Ferrer) Cambridge University Press, 1984 *''The Linguistics of Writing: Arguments between Language and Literature'' (co-edited with Nigel Fabb, Alan Durant, and Colin MacCabe) Manchester University Press and Routledge, 1987 *''Post-structuralism and the Question of History'' (co-edited with Geoff Bennington and Robert Young) Cambridge University Press, 1987 *''Finnegans Awake: The Dream of Interpretation'', ''James Joyce Quarterly'', Volume 27, Number 1, European Perspectives (Fall, 1989), pp 11-29, University of Tulsa, Tulsa OK, 1989 *''Peculiar Language: Literature as Difference from the Renaissance to James Joyce.'' Cornell University Press and Methuen, 1988; reissued, Routledge, 2004 *''The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce'' (edited) Cambridge University Press 1990; second, revised edition, 2004 *''Acts of Literature'', by Jacques Derrida (edited) Routledge, 1992 *''Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction'' Cambridge University Press, 1995 *''Writing South Africa: Literature, Apartheid, and Democracy 1970-1995'' (co-edited with Rosemary Jolly). Cambridge University Press, 1998 *''Joyce Effects: On Language, Theory, and History'' Cambridge University Press, 2000 *''Semicolonial Joyce'' (co-edited with Marjorie Howes) Cambridge University Press, 2000 *''Meter and Meaning: An Introduction to Rhythm in Poetry'' (with Thomas Carper) Routledge, 2003 *''J. M.Coetzee and the Ethics of Reading: Literature in the Event'' University of Chicago Press and KwaZulu-Natal University Press, 2004 *''The Singularity of Literature'' Routledge, 2004 *''Ulysses: A Casebook'' (edited) Oxford University Press, 2004 *''How to Read Joyce'' Granta Books, 2007 *''Reading and Responsibility: Deconstruction’s Traces'' Edinburgh University Press, 2010 *''Theory after 'Theory (co-edited with Jane Elliott) Routledge, 2011 *''The Cambridge History of South African Literature'' (co-edited with David Attwell) Cambridge University Press, 2012 *''Moving Words: Forms of English Poetry'' Oxford University Press, 2013 *''Derek Attridge in Conversation'' (with David Jonathan Bayot and Francisco Roman Guevara) Sussex Academic Press and De La Salle University Press, 2015 *''The Craft of Poetry: Dialogues on Minimal Interpretation'' (with Henry Staten) Routledge, 2015 *''The Work of Literature'' Oxford University Press, 2015

Previous appointments

* Lecturer/Senior Lecturer -

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

(1973–1984) * Professor -

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

(1984–1988) * Various foreign appointments, including Leverhulme Research Professor -

(1988–1998)

Honours and awards

* Guggenheim Fellowship (1993-4) * Robert Fitzgerald Prosody Prize (1999) * ESSE Book Award (2006) * Fellow -

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...

(2007)

References

External links

University of York profile
* Audio of Derek Attridge's lectur
"Reading and Responsibility."
at Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities on 16 October 2007.
''The Cambridge History of South African Literature''
- A link to Dr. Attridge's new Cambridge title, his 10th book to be published by the press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Attridge, Derek British literary theorists Academics of the University of York Academics of the University of Southampton Academics of the University of Strathclyde Living people University of Natal alumni Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Rutgers University faculty 1945 births Fellows of the British Academy