• International
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Books
  • Television
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
CN News Today: Latest News Online
Copyright
Privacy Policy
  • International
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Books
  • Television
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
CN News Today: Latest News Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Books
Lauren Berlant, Critic of the American Dream, Is Dead at 63

Lauren Berlant, Critic of the American Dream, Is Dead at 63

CN News Today: Latest News Online by CN News Today: Latest News Online
July 3, 2021
in Books
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0

Lauren Berlant, an influential scholar best known for exploring the effects on people of declining economic prospects and fraying social bonds in the 2011 book “Cruel Optimism,” which spoke to the frustrations of Americans reeling from the financial crisis of the late 2000s, died on Monday at 63 in a hospice facility in Chicago.

Professor Berlant’s partner, Ian Horswill, said the cause was cancer.

Professor Berlant (pronounced burr-LANT) — who used the pronoun she in her personal life but they professionally, Mr. Horswill said — taught in the English department of the University of Chicago and wrote books and essays that focused on a grab bag of Americana, from Nathaniel Hawthorne to Anita Hill, seeking in history and current events broader lessons about nationalism, sexuality and power.

The professor’s signature phrase, “cruel optimism,” referred to “when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing.” That state of being is widespread in the United States, Professor Berlant argued, where the tools we depend on to achieve “the good life” — a safety net, job security, the meritocracy, even “durable intimacy” in our romantic lives — have degenerated into “fantasies” that bear “less and less relation to how people can live.”

In a profile in The New Yorker, the staff writer Hua Hsu said that Professor Berlant’s thought illustrated how despite “a gut-level suspicion that hard work, thrift, and following the rules” no longer “guarantee a happy ending,” many people “keep on hoping.”

The dating-app addict seeking love and the adjunct academic striving for tenure might be deluding themselves, harboring an outdated American dream of personal stability and expanding possibilities. Yet they form an attachment to their pursuits, however unrealistic, and that attachment might wind up constituting for the person “what it means to keep on living and to look forward to being in the world,” Professor Berlant wrote — “cruel” though the underlying optimism may be.

“Cruel optimism” broke out of the confines of academic theory and became a device for understanding a colorful array of disappointments. Writers have used it to describe everything from a compulsion to follow Instagram “Momfluencers” to the assumption that technology will solve climate change.

Professor Berlant’s writing could be abstruse — it included phrases like “the juxtapolitical domain of social immediacy” and “the becoming historical of the affective event” — but that did not stop the work from resonating with people in their 20s and 30s. Professor Berlant’s death was mourned on Twitter by many young writers, including the critics Tobi Haslett and Jane Hu.

Moira Donegan, a columnist for The Guardian, recalled talking “furiously” with her friends about “Cruel Optimism” after she read it in her early 20s, around the time the book was published. She was surveying economic prospects grimmer than she had expected, but she found that she had the same aspirations anyway.

That apparent contradiction “felt not merely personal or psychological; it felt like a social phenomenon,” Ms. Donegan said. “‘Cruel Optimism’ was the absolute perfect book to read at that time.”

Professor Berlant’s philosophical approach to investigating the effect of social conditions on individual psychology, inspired by the scholar Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, helped create a whole field in academia known as “affect theory.” The New Yorker profile and an essay in the magazine n+1 cast Professor Berlant as the discipline’s central figure.

Professor Berlant is “one of the leading intellectuals in the English-speaking world,” Judith Butler, the eminent theorist of gender, said in an email. “She redefines ‘brilliant’ for our times, and hers is a brilliance that attends closely to our times, its sufferings and potentials for affirmation.”

Lauren Gail Berlant was born on Oct. 31, 1957, in Philadelphia to Nathan Berlant, a negligence lawyer, and Joanne (Bauer) Berlant, an interior decorator. The family owned racehorses. Lauren grew up in Penn Valley, Pa., an affluent suburb.

Nathan and Joanne Berlant split up and declared bankruptcy when Lauren was attending Oberlin College, leaving Lauren on the hook for college tuition.

“She had a whole lot of disappointment early on in her life, including a broken family,” said Valerie Davis, Professor Berlant’s sister.

Supported by scholarships, jobs and loans, Lauren graduated from Oberlin with a degree in English in 1979 received a Ph.D. in English from Cornell in 1985, and began teaching lesbian and feminist theory at the University of Chicago.

Kimberly Peirce, the filmmaker known for “Boys Don’t Cry,” a celebrated chronicle of transgender identity, took one of those courses in the 1980s.

“She opened up in a world, within and without myself, that I would explore from that point forward, including my own sexual identity,” Ms. Peirce said of Professor Berlant. “She provided a safe space to become radical, and that radicalness, I believe, is inherent in ‘Boys.’”

In addition to Mr. Horswill and Ms. Davis, Professor Berlant is survived by a brother, Jeffrey.

In the years after Ms. Peirce took Professor Berlant’s feminist theory course, the two of them remained close. It was Professor Berlant who first suggested to Ms. Peirce that she become a filmmaker. If a topic of conversation engaged Professor Berlant, the two friends might stay up all night texting.

When she visited her father while he was dying, Ms. Peirce turned to Professor Berlant for support.

“She said, ‘Don’t worry, the relationship with him will continue,’” Ms. Peirce recalled. “‘You just may not hear from him.’”

Previous Post

Penn State football recruiting: Three-star LB Keon Wylie commits to Nittany Lions over Pitt, Kentucky

Next Post

Summer After Summer, a Clan Returns to Cape Cod

Related Posts

The Old Men and the Sea
Books

The Old Men and the Sea

by CN News Today: Latest News Online
August 14, 2022
0

<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"...

Read more
Salman Rushdie is attacked onstage in Western New York.

Salman Rushdie is attacked onstage in Western New York.

August 13, 2022
Roaring Through Paris With ‘Kiki Man Ray’

Roaring Through Paris With ‘Kiki Man Ray’

August 13, 2022
Peter Beagle, Author of ‘The Last Unicorn,’ Is Back In Control

Peter Beagle, Author of ‘The Last Unicorn,’ Is Back In Control

August 12, 2022

Recent News

BJP Alleges Social Imbalance, Criminalisation in New Bihar Cabinet

BJP Alleges Social Imbalance, Criminalisation in New Bihar Cabinet

August 16, 2022
Dalit Boy’s Death: Ashok Gehlot Stares at Fresh Political Crisis As 12 Cong Councillors Quit | Key Updates

Dalit Boy’s Death: Ashok Gehlot Stares at Fresh Political Crisis As 12 Cong Councillors Quit | Key Updates

August 16, 2022
Dalit Boy’s Death: Rajasthan Congress Announces Rs 20 Lakh Aid for Victim’s Family

Dalit Boy’s Death: Rajasthan Congress Announces Rs 20 Lakh Aid for Victim’s Family

August 16, 2022
5 Months of AAP Govt in Punjab: After ‘Roast’ by Rivals, Ministers Deployed to Boast about Achievements

5 Months of AAP Govt in Punjab: After ‘Roast’ by Rivals, Ministers Deployed to Boast about Achievements

August 16, 2022
BJP Alleges Social Imbalance, Criminalisation in New Bihar Cabinet

BJP Alleges Social Imbalance, Criminalisation in New Bihar Cabinet

August 16, 2022
Dalit Boy’s Death: Ashok Gehlot Stares at Fresh Political Crisis As 12 Cong Councillors Quit | Key Updates

Dalit Boy’s Death: Ashok Gehlot Stares at Fresh Political Crisis As 12 Cong Councillors Quit | Key Updates

August 16, 2022
Beautiful during sunrise with illuminated buildings on the River Thames at Tower Bridge and Financial district in City of London, England.
CN News Today: Latest News Online

CN News Today: Latest News Online
View the latest news and breaking news today for U.S., world, weather, entertainment, politics and health at News Today

No Result
View All Result
  • International
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Books
  • Television
  • Contact

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT