William Veeder

William Veeder (born September 14, 1940) is a scholar of 19th-century American and British literature and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at the University of Chicago.

For the U.S. Representative from New York, see William D. Veeder.
William Veeder
Born (1940-09-14) September 14, 1940
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Notre Dame
University of Iowa
University of California, Berkeley
Iowa Writers' Workshop
Academic work
DisciplineLiterature
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago

Early life

William Veeder was born on September 14, 1940, in Denver, Colorado to Virginia Holderness and author William H. Veeder. He grew up in Arlington, Virginia.

Education

William Veeder completed his undergraduate studies at Notre Dame, and then spent two years at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts.[1] Veeder received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1969, and joined the faculty at the University of Chicago that same year.

Critical methodology

William Veeder’s critical methodology is primarily rooted in psychoanalysis and gender theory, but he is also a strong advocate of close reading, a critical approach whereby “one gets to content through form”.[1] He is guided by a quote from an art criticism essay written by Henry James, in which James asserted, “In the arts, feeling is always meaning.” Veeder begins his classes with this quote, usually underlining the words “always” and "meaning” and capitalizing the word “always.”[2]

Works

Veeder has been working for over 25 years on a historical novel about Ambrose Bierce and Emma Frances Dawson, which as of 2005 was unpublished and nameless.[1]

Veeder's publications include:

  • Henry James, the Lessons of the Master: Popular Fiction and Personal Style in the Nineteenth Century. U of Chicago P, 1975.[3]
  • The Woman Question: Society and Literature in Britain and America, 1837–1883, Volume 1: Defining Voices. Elizabeth K. Helsinger, Robin Lauterbach Sheets, William Veeder. U of Chicago P, 1989, c1983.
  • The Woman Question: Society and Literature in Britain and America, 1837–1883, Volume 2: Social Issues. Elizabeth K. Helsinger, Robin Lauterbach Sheets, William Veeder. U of Chicago P, 1989, c1983.
  • Mary Shelley & Frankenstein: the Fate of Androgyny. U of Chicago P, 1986.[4][5]
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: After One Hundred Years. Edited by William Veeder and Gordon Hirsch. U of Chicago P, 1988.[6][7]
  • Art of Criticism. Edited by William Veeder and Susan M. Griffin. U of Chicago P, 1988.

His essays have appeared in:

  • The Henry James Review[8]
  • New essays on The portrait of a lady. Edited by Joel Porte. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
  • Henry James: the shorter fiction, reassessments. Edited by N.H. Reeve. St. Martin’s Press, 1997.
  • American gothic: new interventions in a national narrative. Edited by Robert K. Martin & Eric Savoy. University of Iowa Press, c1998.
  • Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Edited and introduced by Harold Bloom.[9]

References

Notes
  1. Gavacs, Jenny (9 March 2005). "A Conversation with William Veeder". Otium. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  2. Yoe, Mary Ruth (2007). "What the governess knew: English professor William R. Veeder leads his class through the twists and turns of a gothic tour de force". University of Chicago Magazine. University of Chicago. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  3. Rowe 1977, pp. 121-124.
  4. Janowitz 1989, pp. 938–939.
  5. Swingle 1988, pp. 140–142.
  6. Stewart 1988, p. ?
  7. McCracken-Flesher 1994, pp. 232–235.
  8. Veeder, William (1985). "Henry James and the Mass Market (review)". The Henry James Review. 7 (1): 50–51. doi:10.1353/hjr.2010.0152. ISSN 1080-6555. S2CID 161689246.
  9. Swingle, L. J.; Veeder, William (January 1988). "Mary Shelley & "Frankenstein": The Fate of Androgyny". South Atlantic Review. 53 (1): 140. doi:10.2307/3200422. JSTOR 3200422.

Bibliography
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