Donald Johnson Greene (November 21, 1914 – May 13, 1997) was a literary critic, English professor, and scholar of British literature, particularly the eighteenth-century period. Known especially for his work on Samuel Johnson, he also wrote on later authors such as Jane Austen,

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, and

Donald Davie Donald Alfred Davie, FBA (17 July 1922 – 18 September 1995) was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes. Biography Davie was born in Barnsley, ...

Early life

Greene was born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, Canada. He began teaching in rural elementary schools and was a non-degreed teacher in Saskatchewan and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. World War II interrupted his academic pursuits; from 1941 to 1945 Greene was a lieutenant and captain in the

Royal Canadian Artillery , colors = The guns of the RCA themselves , colors_label = Colours , march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March" * Quick march (dismounted parades): "British Grenadiers/ The ...

. Following the war he received a graduate fellowship from the

Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. It provides scholarships, bursaries, book prizes, and awards, and pursues other philanthropic and educational projects in various communities ac ...

, and he received his M.A. in 1948 at the

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. He twice received a Guggenheim Fellowship, in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Career

Greene had achieved a considerable scholarly contribution even before graduating, with commentary on Samuel Johnson appearing in ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...

'', '' PMLA'', ''

Modern Language Notes ''Modern Language Notes'' (''MLN'') is an academic journal established in 1886 at the Johns Hopkins University, where it is still edited and published, with the intention of introducing continental European literary criticism into American schola ...

'', and the ''

Review of English Studies ''The Review of English Studies'' is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press covering English literature and the English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earli ...

''. Later, he was the editor of ''

Eighteenth-Century Studies ''Eighteenth-Century Studies'' is an academic journal established in 1966 and the official publication of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. It focuses on all aspects of 18th century history. It is related to the annual ''Studies ...

'' and ''Johnsonian News Letter'', along with holding the position as president of the Johnson Society and served on the board of directors for the Johnson Society of Southern California.Green 1989 p. viii He taught at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

beginning in 1948 and in 1952 he began Ph.D. studies in

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's English department, whose faculty included James L. Clifford — another Samuel Johnson specialist — and

Marjorie Hope Nicolson Marjorie Hope Nicolson (February 18, 1894 – March 9, 1981) was an American literary scholar. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1941 and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1955. Early life an ...

. Greene taught at six other universities, including Brandeis University, the University of California at Riverside, the University of New Mexico, the University of Toronto, and the University of Wisconsin. He ended his career as Leo S. Bing Professor of English at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

from 1968 to 1984.

Selected works

* ''Johnsonian studies, 1887–1950: a survey and bibliography'' (with James Clifford). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1951. * ''The politics of Samuel Johnson.'' New Haven, Yale University Press, 1960. * ''Samuel Johnson: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (Twentieth Century Views series). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1965. * ''The age of exuberance; backgrounds to eighteenth-century English literature''. New York: Random House, 1970. * ''Samuel Johnson'' (Twayne's English Authors Series). New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970. * ''Samuel Johnson; a survey and bibliography of critical studies'' (with James Clifford). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1970. * ''Samuel Johnson's library : an annotated guide''. Victoria: University of Victoria, 1975. * ''Political writings'' (Volume 10 of the Yale ''Complete Works of Samuel Johnson'' series). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977. * ''Samuel Johnson; a collection of critical essays.'' Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984. * ''Greene centennial studies : essays presented to Donald Greene in the centennial year of the University of Southern California'' (with Paul Korshin and Robert Allen). Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1984. * ''Samuel Johnson'' (Oxford Authors). New York : Oxford University Press, 1984. * ''A bibliography of Johnsonian studies, 1970–1985'' (with John Vance). Victoria: University of Victoria, 1987. * ''Samuel Johnson: Updated Edition'' (Twayne's English Authors Series). Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989. * ''Samuel Johnson: The major works'' (Oxford World Classics). Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Notes

References

* Greene, Donald Johnson. "About the Author" in ''Samuel Johnson: Updated Edition'' by Donald Greene, Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989. * Greene, Donald Johnson and John Lawrence Abbott. "Introduction" in
The Selected Essays of Donald Greene
'' Bucknell University Press, 2004. * Greene, R.W. ''Donald Greene, 1914-1997''. Riverside: Inland Printworks, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Donald American literary critics Canadian literary critics University of Southern California faculty University of Saskatchewan faculty 1914 births 1997 deaths People from Moose Jaw 20th-century American non-fiction writers