James Phelan (literary scholar)

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James Phelan (born 1951) is a literary scholar and Humanities Distinguished Professor of English at The Ohio State University. He joined the faculty of Ohio State in 1977 after earning his MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago, he studied with the Chicago School scholar and critic Wayne Booth.

The editor of Narrative (the journal of the Society for the Study of Narrative Literature), he has also authored numerous books and articles on narrative theory, including Living to Tell about It (2005), Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative (2007). With Peter J. Rabinowitz, Phelan co-edits the Ohio State University Press book series, The Theory and Interpretation of Narrative. Born in Flushing, NY, Phelan graduated in 1972 with a BA from Boston College, where he played on the basketball team.

In 1991 he wrote a memoir called Beyond the Tenure Track: Fifteen Months in the Life of an English Professor. With Peter J. Rabinowitz, he edited A Companion to Narrative Theory (2005). Along with Brian McHale, David Herman, and Frederick Luis Aldama, he is one of the founders of Project Narrative, an initiative at The Ohio State University: [1].

[edit] Books

A Companion to Narrative Theory. Co-edited with Peter J. Rabinowitz. Malden: Blackwell, 2005.
Living To Tell About It: A Rhetoric and Ethics of Character Narration. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005.
The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Co-edited with Gerald Graff. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
Narrative as Rhetoric: Technique, Audiences, Ethics, Ideology. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1996.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Co-edited with Gerald Graff. Boston: Bedford Books, 1995.
Understanding Narrative. Co-edited with Peter J. Rabinowitz. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1994.
Beyond the Tenure Track: Fifteen Months in the Life of an English Professor. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1991.
Reading People, Reading Plots: Character, Progression, and the Interpretation of Narrative. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Reading Narrative: Form, Ethics, Ideology. Editor. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1989.
Worlds from Words: A Theory of Language in Fiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.