Kevin Kopelson
Encyclopedia
Kevin Kopelson, born in 1960, is an American
literary critic. He received a B.A. from Yale University
, a J.D. from Columbia University
, and a Ph.D. from Brown University
. Currently, he is Professor of English at The University of Iowa
.
, Ronald Firbank, André Gide, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, Marguerite Yourcenar, Mary Renault, and Roland Barthes. Beethoven’s Kiss examines ways in which the performance of 19th-century piano music has shaped that of 20th-century homosexuality, with special attention paid to the erotic anxieties of amateurism (that of Gide and Barthes in particular), the sexualization of the child prodigy (young Franz Liszt
in particular), the sexualization of the male virtuoso (Liszt, Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Van Cliburn), castrating figurations of the female teacher, and the convergence, in Liberace, of issues concerning class, the “closet,” and the “camp” sensibility. The Queer Afterlife of Vaslav Nijinsky examines the modern reception of this classical ballet dancer (yet another “sexual virtuoso” – as well as the most important gay celebrity after Wilde). It performs an impressionistic (or Paterian) account of Nijinsky’s career as well, also considering the limits of the predominantly deconstructive (or Barthesian) methodology of all three books.
, Tom Stoppard
, and Bruce Chatwin. Sedaris relates roles played in life by David Sedaris
with ones that this most confessional of contemporary satirists plays with his readers. Confessions of a Plagiarist relates Kopelson's own life to his work as an academic.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
literary critic. He received a B.A. from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, a J.D. from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and a Ph.D. from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. Currently, he is Professor of English at The University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
.
Fields
Kopelson has published extensively in the (related) fields of sexuality studies, critical theory, cultural studies, and 20th-century literature.Career
Kopelson's first three books are nostalgic, concerning supposedly passé art forms and ideologies. Love’s Litany examines ways in which 19th-century conceptions of romantic love have shaped 20th-century conceptions of homosexuality, as seen in work by Oscar WildeOscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, Ronald Firbank, André Gide, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, Marguerite Yourcenar, Mary Renault, and Roland Barthes. Beethoven’s Kiss examines ways in which the performance of 19th-century piano music has shaped that of 20th-century homosexuality, with special attention paid to the erotic anxieties of amateurism (that of Gide and Barthes in particular), the sexualization of the child prodigy (young Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
in particular), the sexualization of the male virtuoso (Liszt, Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Van Cliburn), castrating figurations of the female teacher, and the convergence, in Liberace, of issues concerning class, the “closet,” and the “camp” sensibility. The Queer Afterlife of Vaslav Nijinsky examines the modern reception of this classical ballet dancer (yet another “sexual virtuoso” – as well as the most important gay celebrity after Wilde). It performs an impressionistic (or Paterian) account of Nijinsky’s career as well, also considering the limits of the predominantly deconstructive (or Barthesian) methodology of all three books.
Recent work
Kopelson’s recent work is humanistic. Neatness Counts is the first full-length study of the poetics of the modern writer’s workspace. He looks at Barthes, Proust, Elizabeth BishopElizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956 and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. Elizabeth Bishop House is an artists' retreat in Great Village, Nova Scotia...
, Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
, and Bruce Chatwin. Sedaris relates roles played in life by David Sedaris
David Sedaris
David Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist, writer, comedian, bestselling author, and radio contributor....
with ones that this most confessional of contemporary satirists plays with his readers. Confessions of a Plagiarist relates Kopelson's own life to his work as an academic.
Works
- Love’s Litany: The Writing of Modern Homoerotics (Stanford University Press, 1994).
- Beethoven’s Kiss: Pianism, Perversion, and the Mastery of Desire (Stanford University Press, 1996).
- The Queer Afterlife of Vaslav Nijinsky (Stanford University Press, 1997).
- Neatness Counts: Essays on the Writer’s Desk (University of Minnesota Press, 2004).
- Sedaris (University of Minnesota Press, 2007).
- Confessions of a Plagiarist: And Other Tales from School (Counterpath Press, forthcoming).