Martin Puchner
Harvard University, English, Faculty Member
- BA in Philosophy, PhD in Comparative Literature (Harvard). Teaches at Harvard University. Website: martinpuchner.com;... moreBA in Philosophy, PhD in Comparative Literature (Harvard). Teaches at Harvard University. Website: martinpuchner.com; Twitter: martin_puchner; Facebook:Masterpieces of World Literatureedit
Research Interests:
A survey of how stories have shaped the world based on my book The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization.
Research Interests:
An argument about the role of theater in Kafka's work.
Research Interests:
An article based on a conversation about The Written World, with particular reference to Mursaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji
Research Interests:
An essay on Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul; a cultural tour with Turkish dissident Murat Belge; and an account of the city that contributed to the formation of world literature.
Research Interests:
An argument about world literature as fighting nationalism and cosmopolitanism since Goethe.
Research Interests:
An argument about the role of drama and the dramatic in Wittgenstein's late philosophy.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An argument about the role of book publication in the careers of both Trump and Obama.
Research Interests:
Based on the author’s work as general editor of the Norton Anthology of World Literature, the essay develops an approach to world literature centered on world creation. The creation of literary worlds can be understood within the... more
Based on the author’s work as general editor of the Norton Anthology of World Literature, the essay develops an approach to world literature centered on world creation. The creation of literary worlds can be understood within the framework of possible worlds theory as developed by Thomas Pavel, Lubomir Dolezel and others. Taking its point of departure from possible worlds theory, the essay then focuses on specific genres that foreground the capacity of literature to create whole worlds, including world creation myths and science fiction. Three terms are used to analyze this body of literature: refer- ence; scale; and model. While the category of reference accounts for the status of the worlds to be found within literary works, scale and model capture the particular challenges world creation literature faces.
Research Interests:
An argument about the debate surrounding the New Modernist Studies, including my book Poetry of the Revolution.
Research Interests:
Reflection on Murasaki Shikibu in relation to my book The Written World.
Research Interests:
Essay on Anna Akhmatova drawn from my book The Written World.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An argument about Agamben, Elizabeth Costello, and performing animals.
Research Interests:
An argument about the role of manifestos in avant-garde theater since Artaud.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An argument about the importance of genre, especially in relation to the closet dramas, manifestos, and the drama of ideas.
Research Interests:
Short article on Anna Akhmatova and the role of writing.
Research Interests:
A first-hand report on the teaching of world literature in the Southern United States.
Research Interests:
An argument about the interaction between theater and philosophy since Plato with an emphasis on the love-hate relationship between the two.
Research Interests:
An argument about the relation between philosophy and literature in the work of Kenneth Burke. [uncorrected draft]
Research Interests:
An argument about the importance of Plato in Badiou's work.
Research Interests: Plato and Alain Badiou
A theory of theatrical adaptation with particular reference to Gertrude Stein and Big Dance Theater.
Research Interests:
An argument about the continuing importance of avant-garde activity, especially of manifestos.
Research Interests:
An argument about the importance of theatrical--and anti-theatrical--strategies for Guy Debord and the French Situationists.
Research Interests:
Alain Badiou's Rhapsody for the Theatre, edited by Martin Puchner and David Kornhaber
Research Interests:
A discussion of The Drama of Ideas by Martin Puchner.
Research Interests:
An argument about the relation between theater and philosophy in de Sade's Philosophy in the Bedroom.
Research Interests:
A survey of the ways in which theater and philosophy have interacted.
Research Interests:
An argument that Wittgenstein's Tractatus should be understood in the context of political and scientific manifestos circulating within the Vienna Circle.
Research Interests:
This article examines the relation between philosophy and theatre in the work of French philosopher Alain Badiou. First, it focuses on Badiou’s central categories, such as event and character, that resonate with the theatre. Second,... more
This article examines the relation between philosophy and theatre in the work of French philosopher Alain Badiou. First, it focuses on Badiou’s central categories, such as event and character, that resonate with the theatre. Second, Badiou’s own engagement with the theatre, the place theatre occupies in his philosophical world, is identified. Finally, the article argues that Badiou’s thought must be understood as a return to Plato. Plato here is understood not as an enemy of theatre, but as a philosopher who
invented philosophy through a constant, if often critical, engagement with the theatre. Dramatic Platonism is the name proposed for this tradition of philosophy of which Alain Badiou is the most significant current representative.
invented philosophy through a constant, if often critical, engagement with the theatre. Dramatic Platonism is the name proposed for this tradition of philosophy of which Alain Badiou is the most significant current representative.
Research Interests:
An argument about the integration of philosophy and art practice in the new Harvard theater program, Theater, Dance, and Media, I founded in 2013.
Research Interests:
An argument about the pedagogy of world literature based on my experience editing the Norton Anthology of World Literature.
Research Interests:
An argument about the history of the idea of world literature behind Ibsen's work.
Research Interests:
A review essay that considers Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go in the context of his overall oeuvre.
Research Interests:
A review of J.M. Coetzee in the context of the novel of ideas.
Research Interests:
Review essay of Patrick Leigh Fermor and the author's travels to Mount Athos.
https://www.publicbooks.org/the-road-to-the-holy-mountain/
https://www.publicbooks.org/the-road-to-the-holy-mountain/
Research Interests:
An essay about the role of writing technologies in world literature, drawing on my book The Written World.
Research Interests:
A review of J.M. Coetzee's Summertime
Research Interests:
A book-length argument about the role of writing and written stories in human history.
Research Interests:
Market-leading six-volume textbook and anthology on world literature.
Research Interests:
A book-length argument about the relations between theater and philosophy from Plato to the twentieth century.
Research Interests:
A book-length argument about the role of political and artistic manifestos in twentieth-century culture.
Research Interests:
A two-volume anthology of Western literature.
Research Interests:
A book-length argument about the polarizing role of theater in modernism.
Research Interests:
Market-leading two-volume textbook and anthology of drama and theater history.
Research Interests:
A collection of essays on modernist theater.
Research Interests:
A four-volume collection of writings on the theory of drama.