Donald Johnson Greene (November 21, 1914 – May 13, 1997) was a literary critic, English professor, and scholar of

British literature British literature is from the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. This article covers British literature in the English language. Anglo-Saxon (Old English) literature ...

, particularly the eighteenth-century period. Known especially for his work on

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, he also wrote on later authors such as

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

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 ''Decli ...

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 novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

, and Donald Davie.

Early life

Greene was born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, 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, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. He began teaching in rural

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s and was a non-degreed teacher in Saskatchewan and

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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

Royal Canadian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery () is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Army. History Many of the units and batteries of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery are older than the Dominion of Canada itself. The first arti ...

. 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 University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He twice received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

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 song ...

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 inner ...

'', '' PMLA'', ''

Modern Language Notes ''Modern Language Notes'' (''MLN'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1886 at the Johns Hopkins University, with the intention of introducing continental European literary criticism into American scholarship. The journal is publis ...

'', and the '' Review of English Studies''. 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 a frequent contributor to the ''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 The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

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

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's English department, whose faculty included James L. Clifford — another Samuel Johnson specialist — and Marjorie Hope Nicolson. 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 The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

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 Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan 1914 births 1997 deaths Writers from Moose Jaw 20th-century American non-fiction writers