Frank Kermode

Professor Sir
Frank Kermode
FBA
Born John Frank Kermode
(1919-11-29)29 November 1919
Isle of Man
Died 17 August 2010(2010-08-17) (aged 90)
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Nationality British
Title King Edward VII Professor of English Literature (1974–1982)
Academic background
Education Douglas High School
Alma mater University of Liverpool
Academic work
Discipline Literary criticism
Institutions Durham University
University of Reading
University of Manchester
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
Harvard University
Columbia University
Notable works The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction (1967)

Sir John Frank Kermode, FBA (29 November 1919 – 17 August 2010[1][2][3]) was a British literary critic best known for his work The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, published in 1967 (revised 2000), and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing.

He was the Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London and the King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University.

Kermode was known for many works of criticism, and also as editor of the popular Fontana Modern Masters series of introductions to modern thinkers. He was a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books.

Biography

Kermode was born on the Isle of Man, and was educated at Douglas High School and the University of Liverpool. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, for six years in total, much of it in Iceland.

He began his academic career as a lecturer at the University of Durham in 1947. He later taught at the University of Reading, then the University of Bristol. He was named Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London (UCL) from 1967 to 1974. Under Kermode, the UCL English Department chaired a series of graduate seminars which broke new ground by introducing for the first time contemporary French critical theory to Britain.

Kermode was a contributor for several years to the literary and political magazine, Encounter and in 1965 became co-editor. He resigned within two years, once it became clear that the magazine was funded by the CIA.[1]

In 1974, Kermode took the position of King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University. He resigned the post in 1982, at least in part because of the acrimonious tenure debate surrounding Colin MacCabe. He then moved to Columbia University, where he was Julian Clarence Levi Professor Emeritus in the Humanities. In 1975–76 he held the Norton Lectureship at Harvard University.[1]

He was knighted in 1991.

A few months before Kermode's death the scholar James Shapiro described him as "the best living reader of Shakespeare anywhere, hands down".[4]

Kermode died in Cambridge on 17 August 2010.

Personal life

Kermode was married twice. He was married to Maureen Eccles, from 1947 to 1970. The couple had two children, a twin son and daughter. His second marriage was to the American scholar Anita Van Vactor. The couple co-edited The Oxford Book of Letters (1995).[1]

Academic positions

Styles

Works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mullan, John (18 August 2010). "Sir Frank Kermode obituary: Pre-eminent critic who with easy erudition explored how ideas work in literature". The Observer.
  2. ↑ The Editors (18 August 2010). "Frank Kermode—LRB blog". Lrb.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Sir Frank Kermode". The Daily Telegraph. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "An Interview with James Shapiro". The Literateur. Retrieved 21 March 2011.

Further reading

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