Roger Shattuck
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roger Whitney Shattuck (August 20, 1923 in
Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
– December 8, 2005 in Lincoln, Vermont) was an American writer best known for his books on
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
,
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
, and
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
of the twentieth century.


Background and education

Born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to parents Howard Francis Shattuck, a physician, and Elizabeth (Colt) Shattuck, he studied at St. Paul's School in
Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...
before entering
Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
.


Military service in Second World War

He left Yale to join the Army Air Corps, serving as a cargo pilot in the Pacific theater during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He spoke little about his experience in the war, but tried writing about it his entire life. He tried capturing the moment he flew over Nagasaki with his copilot, seeing the aftermath and rubble on the ground. After the war, he returned to school, graduating from Yale in 1947. Shattuck then moved to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he worked for
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
's film service. In this capacity he came into contact with luminaries of European culture such as
Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...
, Alice B. Toklas and
Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
, and met his future wife Nora White, a dancer with the
Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...
.


Academic career

Returned to New York, Shattuck worked in publishing, and later taught at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
, the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, and
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
, despite his lack of a graduate degree. He retired as a
professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...
from Boston University in 1997.


Organizations

Shattuck was among the founding members of the
Association of Literary Scholars and Critics The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) was organized in 1994 as the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics by a group of over 400 scholars troubled by what they saw as an over reliance on post-modern theory in the a ...
. He later served as president of the organization.


Works

Shattuck's essays frequently appeared in ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...
'' and other publications. He was the author of several highly regarded works of
literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...
—''Proust's Way'', ''The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France - 1885 to World War I'', ''Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography''—and served as editor of the restored edition of Helen Keller's memoir '' The Story of My Life''. In 1975, Shattuck received the
National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...
in category Arts and Letters for ''Marcel Proust'' (a split award)."National Book Awards – 1975"
National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...
. Retrieved 2012-03-10.


Academic philosophy

Routinely described as "one of America's leading literary scholars," Shattuck was considered something of a traditionalist. He became well known for his 1994 speech "Nineteen Theses on Literature," delivered to the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. In it he argued (as point XIV), "Everything has been said. But nobody listens. Therefore it has to be said all over again—only better. In order to say it better, we have to know how it was said before." Jacques Derrida's 'Declarations of Independence', an early turn to address questions in legal and political philosophy, was written at Shattuck's suggestion on the bicentenary. It was first given as a lecture at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1976 (Derrida, Negotiations, 46). Upon Shattuck's death, the Yale critic
Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...
said of his colleague, "He was an old-fashioned, in a good sense, man of letters. He incarnated his love for literature."


Bibliography

*''The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France, 1885 to World War I'' (1958) *''Proust's Binoculars'' (1963) *''Half Tame'' (1964) *''Proust'' ( Fontana Modern Masters, 1974) *''Marcel Proust'' (1975) [won
National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...
Arts & Letters prize in 1975] *''The Forbidden Experiment: The Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron'' (1980) *''The Innocent Eye: On Modern Literature & the Arts'' (1984) *''Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography'' (1994) *''Candor and Perversion: Literature, Education, and the Arts'' (1998) *''Proust's Way: A Field Guide to 'In Search of Lost Time (2000)


References


External links


''Boston Globe'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shattuck, Roger American literary critics Literary critics of French 2005 deaths 1923 births Yale University alumni Harvard University faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty University of Virginia faculty Boston University faculty National Book Award winners 20th-century American essayists