Leslie Aaron Fiedler (March 8, 1917 – January 29, 2003) was an American literary critic, known for his interest in

mythography Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

and his championing of

genre fiction Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. A nu ...

. His work incorporates the application of

psychological theories Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwee ...

to American literature. Fiedler's best known work is the book ''Love and Death in the American Novel'' (1960). A retrospective article on Leslie Fiedler in the

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

in 1965 referred to ''Love and Death in the American Novel'' as "one of the great, essential books on the American imagination . . . an accepted major work." This work views in depth both American literature and character from the time of the American Revolution to the present. From it, there emerges Fiedler's once scandalous—now increasingly accepted—judgement that our literature is incapable of dealing with adult sexuality and is pathologically obsessed with death.

Life

Early years

Fiedler was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, to Jewish parents Lillian and Jacob Fiedler. "Eliezar Aaron" was his original Hebrew name. In his early years, he developed a strong connection to his grandparents. He attended

South Side High School Southside High School or South Side High School may refer to: * Southside High School (Gadsden, Alabama) * Southside High School (Dallas County, Alabama), a school in the Dallas County Schools system * Southside High School (Batesville, Arkansas) ...

before majoring in English at New York University. After that, he attended the University of Wisconsin, from where he obtained both his M.A. in 1939, and his Ph.D. in 1941. Between 1942 and 1946 he served as a Japanese interpreter and military cryptologist in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Career

After World War II, Fiedler continued doing research at

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 taught at many universities both abroad and in the United States. He taught at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

(then Montana State University) from 1941 to 1965. In 1964, he began teaching at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

(UB) where he remained until his retirement. He was offered a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

. Besides essays and criticism, Fiedler was also a novelist and a short story writer.

The 1990s and beyond

In the 1990s, Fiedler's output decreased and new material was sporadic, but he received many honors in this period. In 1994, Fiedler received the Hubbell Medal for his lifetime contribution to the study of literature. In April 1995, there was a celebration conference and performance in his honor called "Fiedlerfest" at the Center for the Arts at the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

. Several famous writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Camille Paglia and Ishmael Reed paid homage to him and his works. Although some sources wrongly attribute different dates, the series of conferences took place at the Center for the Arts at the University of Buffalo from April 29 through April 30, 1995. Considered one of the most influential figures in 20th century American cultural thought, Fiedler is the author of over 40 works, some of which have been used in many courses in American universities. The conference originated from an idea that Fiedler's friend and colleague Bruce Jackson had in 1994. The idea was that the University of Buffalo should do something to celebrate their best-known professor and literary critic while he was still alive. They asked Fiedler to name the key speakers of the conference and he selected three people he admired:

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultu ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, and

Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is '' M ...

. The university funded the event, which also had the participation of a master Daejaeng player related to one of the Korean students in the English Department, who played in Fiedler's honor. The art theorist, feminist academic and critic Camille Paglia performed on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, at 4 pm, it was the turn of beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg to perform. Ginsberg was an old friend of Fiedler's and had written the poem "Uptown" about Fiedler's children after their arrival in New York, coming from Missoula, MT to start a band. He read his poems while playing a small hand-pumped harmonium from India. He was later followed by the Daejaeng performance. American poet, songwriter, novelist, playwright and essayist Ishmael Reed was the last to perform. The celebration culminated with a reception in the Center for the Arts Atrium at UB. In 1998, Fiedler was given the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. On January 29, 2003, a month before his 86th birthday, he died in Buffalo, where he is buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Personal life

Fiedler was married to Margaret Ann Shipley from 1939 until their 1972 divorce. In 1973, he married Sally Andersen; they remained married until his death. Fiedler had six children and two stepchildren.

Awards

* Two Fulbright Fellowships (1951, 1962) * A Guggenheim Fellowship (1970) * The Hubbell Medal for lifetime contribution to the study of literature (1994) * Fiedlerfest, a series of conferences in his honor at

SUNY, Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

. (1995) * The Ivan Sandrof Award (1997) for lifetime achievement from the National Book Critics Circle.

Works

* "Come Back to the Raft Ag'in, Huck Honey!" (1948) * ''An End to Innocence: Essays on Culture and Politics'' (1955) * "Nude Croquet." ''Esquire'' (September, 1957) * ''Nude Croquet and Other Stories of the Joys and Terrors of Marriage'' (1958) (stories, with others) * ''Whitman'' (1959) (editor) * ''The Jew in the American Novel'' (1959) Herzl Institute pamphlet * ''No! In Thunder: Essays on Myth and Literature'' (1960) * ''Love and Death in the American Novel'' (1960) * ''Nude Croquet'' (1960) * ''The Riddle of Shakespeare's Sonnets'' (1962) with R. P. Blackmur,

Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, '' Fearful Symm ...

, Edward Hubler,

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by th ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

* ''Pull Down Vanity'' (1962) stories * ''The Second Stone'': A Love Story (1963) novel * ''A Literary Guide to Seduction'' (1963) with Robert Meister * ''The Continuing Debate: Essays on Education for Freshmen'' (1964) with Jacob Vinocur * ''Waiting for the End: The American Literary Scene from Hemingway to Baldwin'' (1964) * ''Back to China'' (1965) novel * ''The Last Jew in America'' (1966) stories * ''The Return of the Vanishing American'' (1968) * ''O Brave New World: American Literature from 16001840'' (1968) editor with Arthur Zeiger, City University of New York. * ''Being Busted'' (1969) * ''Nude croquet: The stories of Leslie A. Fiedler'' (1969) * ''The Art of the Essay'' (1969) editor * ''Cross the Border–Close the Gap'' (1972), * ''Unfinished Business'' (1972) essays * ''Collected Essays of Leslie Fiedler'' (1972) * ''To the Gentiles'' (1972) * ''The Stranger in Shakespeare'' (1972) * ''Beyond The Looking Glass: Extraordinary Works of Fairy Tale and Fantasy'' (1973) editor, with Jonathan Cott * ''"Rebirth of God, The Death of Man", an essay in ''Salmagundi'': A Quarterly of the Humanities & Social Sciences, Winter, 1973, No. 21, pp. 3–27. * ''The Messengers Will Come No More'' (1974) * ''In Dreams Awake: A Historical-Critical Anthology of Science Fiction'' (1975, editor): a "historical-critical" anthology with "provocative introduction and commentary" ( Scholes) * ''A Fiedler Reader'' (1977) * ''The Inadvertent Epic: From Uncle Tom's Cabin to Roots'' (1978)

Massey Lecture The Massey Lectures is an annual five-part series of lectures given in Canada by distinguished writers, thinkers and scholars who explore important ideas and issues of contemporary interest. Created in 1961 in honour of Vincent Massey, the forme ...

* ''Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self'' (1978) * ''English Literature: Opening Up the Canon'', Selected Papers from the English Institute, 1979, New Series #4, edited by Leslie A. Fiedler and Houston A. Baker Jr., Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981. * ''What was literature?: Class Culture And Mass Society'' (1982) * ''Buffalo Bill and the Wild West'' (1982) * ''Olaf Stapledon: A Man Divided'' (1983) * ''Fiedler on the Roof: Essays on Literature and Jewish Identity'' (1990) * ''The Tyranny of the Normal: Essays on Bioethics, Theology & Myth'' (1996) * ''A New Fiedler Reader'' (1999)

References

Sources

Mark Royden Winchell Mark Royden Winchell (July 24, 1948 – May 8, 2008) was a biographer, essayist, historian and literary critic. At the time of his death he was Professor of Literature and European Civilization at Clemson University in South Carolina, where he ha ...

(1985) ''Leslie Fiedler'' * S. G. Kellman and

Irving Malin Irving Malin (March 18, 1934 – December 3, 2014) was an American literary critic. Malin attended Thomas Jefferson High School and Jamaica High School and graduated magna cum laude from Queens College in 1955 and received his PhD from Stanford U ...

, editors (1999) ''Leslie Fiedler and American Culture'' * Mark Royden Winchell (2002) ''"Too Good to Be True": The Life and Work of Leslie Fiedler''

External links

Curriculum Vitae of Leslie Fiedler

Fear and Loathing: How Leslie Fiedler turned American criticism on its head

A critic in winter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiedler, Leslie 1917 births 2003 deaths American literary critics United States Navy personnel of World War II American tax resisters Jewish American academics New York University alumni Jewish American writers School of Letters faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from Missoula, Montana Writers from Newark, New Jersey Malcolm X Shabazz High School alumni United States Navy reservists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters