Black and white portrait of a woman with a shaved head, looking calmly at the camera with a slight smile. She wears large, round earrings and appears relaxed, exuding confidence and individuality. The simple background keeps the focus on her expressive face and distinctive style.
Black and white portrait of a woman with a shaved head, looking calmly at the camera with a slight smile. She wears large, round earrings and appears relaxed, exuding confidence and individuality. The simple background keeps the focus on her expressive face and distinctive style.

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

Historical

Historical

May 2, 1950

-

Apr 12, 2009

Back

Back

Back

Black and white portrait of a woman with a shaved head, looking calmly at the camera with a slight smile. She wears large, round earrings and appears relaxed, exuding confidence and individuality. The simple background keeps the focus on her expressive face and distinctive style.

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

Historical

Historical

May 2, 1950

-

Apr 12, 2009

Biography

FAQ

Quotes

Biography

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was an American academician who established herself as one of the most influential personalities in the fields of gender studies and queer theory that affected literary criticism as well as cultural studies. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1950 and belonged to the Jewish religion; she completed her higher education at Cornell University and graduated from Yale University. Sedgwick's initial scholarly focus on English literature shifted to a more activist concern with sexuality and gender and, more broadly, with identity.

Her groundbreaking books, such as Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985) and Epistemology of the Closet (1990), served as a basis for the new and developing field of queer theory. These works engaged with questions of culture and sex, the construction of sexualities, and sexual categories of Same and Other.

Sedgwick's work was influenced by post-structuralism and feminism and engaged with Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to analyze how contemporary Western culture produces and regulates sexual subjectivity. She created linguistic terms like 'homosocial' or 'anti homophobic' to explain patronizing relations between males and social homophobic phobias concerning homosexuality. Her analytical approach to literature moved beyond the literary aspect of the text to the social-political element of power. Sedgwick refuted the notion that sexual orientation is a singular and rigid concept and that queerness is an 'open mesh of possibilities'.

Apart from queer theory, Sedgwick contributed to affect theory, which looks at the emotions and psychological aspects of the subject of identity and gender. Some of her late career works include Touching Feeling (2003), which focused on the relationship between feelings, affect, and pedagogy for queers. Even such topics as AIDS, death, and the connection between the body and the spirit were addressed in her essays. For example, in the book A Dialogue on Love, published in 1999, she shared her story of breast cancer. Sedgwick died in 2009, but her theories are still relevant in academia when it comes to discussions of gender, sexuality, and identity.

Quotes

"Epistemology of the Closet explores how binary thinking simplifies the complexity of desire."

"Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant."

"The closet is the defining structure for understanding gay oppression in our time."

"To identify as queer is to resist the category itself."

"No one of us is purely homo- or heterosexual."

"Paranoid reading practices are marked by suspicion, whereas reparative reading opens space for healing."

"Sexuality is as much about affect and emotion as it is about sex."

"The privilege of whiteness and heteronormativity often go unnoticed in discussions of power."

"Homosexuality is culturally constructed as an open secret in Western discourse."

"Feelings are central to the way we organize our understandings of self and other."

"The AIDS crisis revealed deep anxieties about sexuality and mortality in Western culture."

"The act of writing is itself an exploration of identity."

"Gender performativity involves how we present ourselves, shaped by societal expectations."

"Art and literature provide spaces to resist oppressive social structures."

"Queer theory challenges the boundaries between normativity and otherness."

FAQ

The question worth answering now is what did Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick contribute as a literary critic and theorist?

Sedgwick is credited with having penned some of the earliest literature in queer theory through Between Men and Epistemology of the Closet.

Sedgwick used "homosocial desire" to refer to the mechanisms that attempt to regulate male homosocial desire.

Homosocial desire is the attraction between men that is passionate and platonic and defined by the social concern of homosexuality.

What is queer theory?

As set out by Sedgwick, queer theory critiques the idea of rigid categories of sexuality and gender, arguing for the constructed nature of such categories.

Epistemology of the Closet: what is it all about?

In Epistemology of the Closet, Sedgwick analyzes how homosexuality and heterosexuality, as concepts that dominated Western culture, are constructed with the use of binary thinking and how these categories prevent one from seeing desire in its full spectrum.

In her text Between Men, Sedgwick posited that the male homosexual construction of male-male sexual relationships was the primary social fact within Western culture.

In Between Men, Sedgwick explored men's relationships with other men in English literature and how the dynamics of these relationships mirror the dominance of patriarchal authority.

What is reparative reading, and why is it important?

In her work, Sedgwick provided new avenues for the understanding of the performances of gender and sexuality and became a reference for scholars in feminist, gay and lesbian, and queer studies.

Specifically, in what way did Sedgwick contribute to gender studies?

In her work, Sedgwick provided new avenues for the understanding of the performances of gender and sexuality and became a reference for scholars in feminist, gay and lesbian, and queer studies.

Which personal experiences affected Sedgwick's work?

Sedgwick's mastectomy and her thinking about illness and the body were integral to her subsequent work in A Dialogue on Love and Touching Feeling.

What does A Dialogue on Love discuss?

A Dialogue on Love is a partly fictionalized account of Sedgwick's therapy, cancer, and gender and a poetic, prose, and psychoanalytic text.

What was the connection, if any, of Sedgwick's work to the AIDS crisis?

As Sedgwick's prolific career unfolded in the 1980s and the 1990s, she explored the emotional, cultural, as well as political effects of the AIDS epidemic on queer subjects.

Biography

FAQ

Quotes

Biography

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was an American academician who established herself as one of the most influential personalities in the fields of gender studies and queer theory that affected literary criticism as well as cultural studies. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1950 and belonged to the Jewish religion; she completed her higher education at Cornell University and graduated from Yale University. Sedgwick's initial scholarly focus on English literature shifted to a more activist concern with sexuality and gender and, more broadly, with identity.

Her groundbreaking books, such as Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985) and Epistemology of the Closet (1990), served as a basis for the new and developing field of queer theory. These works engaged with questions of culture and sex, the construction of sexualities, and sexual categories of Same and Other.

Sedgwick's work was influenced by post-structuralism and feminism and engaged with Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to analyze how contemporary Western culture produces and regulates sexual subjectivity. She created linguistic terms like 'homosocial' or 'anti homophobic' to explain patronizing relations between males and social homophobic phobias concerning homosexuality. Her analytical approach to literature moved beyond the literary aspect of the text to the social-political element of power. Sedgwick refuted the notion that sexual orientation is a singular and rigid concept and that queerness is an 'open mesh of possibilities'.

Apart from queer theory, Sedgwick contributed to affect theory, which looks at the emotions and psychological aspects of the subject of identity and gender. Some of her late career works include Touching Feeling (2003), which focused on the relationship between feelings, affect, and pedagogy for queers. Even such topics as AIDS, death, and the connection between the body and the spirit were addressed in her essays. For example, in the book A Dialogue on Love, published in 1999, she shared her story of breast cancer. Sedgwick died in 2009, but her theories are still relevant in academia when it comes to discussions of gender, sexuality, and identity.

Quotes

"Epistemology of the Closet explores how binary thinking simplifies the complexity of desire."

"Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant."

"The closet is the defining structure for understanding gay oppression in our time."

"To identify as queer is to resist the category itself."

"No one of us is purely homo- or heterosexual."

"Paranoid reading practices are marked by suspicion, whereas reparative reading opens space for healing."

"Sexuality is as much about affect and emotion as it is about sex."

"The privilege of whiteness and heteronormativity often go unnoticed in discussions of power."

"Homosexuality is culturally constructed as an open secret in Western discourse."

"Feelings are central to the way we organize our understandings of self and other."

"The AIDS crisis revealed deep anxieties about sexuality and mortality in Western culture."

"The act of writing is itself an exploration of identity."

"Gender performativity involves how we present ourselves, shaped by societal expectations."

"Art and literature provide spaces to resist oppressive social structures."

"Queer theory challenges the boundaries between normativity and otherness."

FAQ

The question worth answering now is what did Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick contribute as a literary critic and theorist?

Sedgwick is credited with having penned some of the earliest literature in queer theory through Between Men and Epistemology of the Closet.

Sedgwick used "homosocial desire" to refer to the mechanisms that attempt to regulate male homosocial desire.

Homosocial desire is the attraction between men that is passionate and platonic and defined by the social concern of homosexuality.

What is queer theory?

As set out by Sedgwick, queer theory critiques the idea of rigid categories of sexuality and gender, arguing for the constructed nature of such categories.

Epistemology of the Closet: what is it all about?

In Epistemology of the Closet, Sedgwick analyzes how homosexuality and heterosexuality, as concepts that dominated Western culture, are constructed with the use of binary thinking and how these categories prevent one from seeing desire in its full spectrum.

In her text Between Men, Sedgwick posited that the male homosexual construction of male-male sexual relationships was the primary social fact within Western culture.

In Between Men, Sedgwick explored men's relationships with other men in English literature and how the dynamics of these relationships mirror the dominance of patriarchal authority.

What is reparative reading, and why is it important?

In her work, Sedgwick provided new avenues for the understanding of the performances of gender and sexuality and became a reference for scholars in feminist, gay and lesbian, and queer studies.

Specifically, in what way did Sedgwick contribute to gender studies?

In her work, Sedgwick provided new avenues for the understanding of the performances of gender and sexuality and became a reference for scholars in feminist, gay and lesbian, and queer studies.

Which personal experiences affected Sedgwick's work?

Sedgwick's mastectomy and her thinking about illness and the body were integral to her subsequent work in A Dialogue on Love and Touching Feeling.

What does A Dialogue on Love discuss?

A Dialogue on Love is a partly fictionalized account of Sedgwick's therapy, cancer, and gender and a poetic, prose, and psychoanalytic text.

What was the connection, if any, of Sedgwick's work to the AIDS crisis?

As Sedgwick's prolific career unfolded in the 1980s and the 1990s, she explored the emotional, cultural, as well as political effects of the AIDS epidemic on queer subjects.

Biography

FAQ

Quotes

Biography

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was an American academician who established herself as one of the most influential personalities in the fields of gender studies and queer theory that affected literary criticism as well as cultural studies. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1950 and belonged to the Jewish religion; she completed her higher education at Cornell University and graduated from Yale University. Sedgwick's initial scholarly focus on English literature shifted to a more activist concern with sexuality and gender and, more broadly, with identity.

Her groundbreaking books, such as Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985) and Epistemology of the Closet (1990), served as a basis for the new and developing field of queer theory. These works engaged with questions of culture and sex, the construction of sexualities, and sexual categories of Same and Other.

Sedgwick's work was influenced by post-structuralism and feminism and engaged with Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to analyze how contemporary Western culture produces and regulates sexual subjectivity. She created linguistic terms like 'homosocial' or 'anti homophobic' to explain patronizing relations between males and social homophobic phobias concerning homosexuality. Her analytical approach to literature moved beyond the literary aspect of the text to the social-political element of power. Sedgwick refuted the notion that sexual orientation is a singular and rigid concept and that queerness is an 'open mesh of possibilities'.

Apart from queer theory, Sedgwick contributed to affect theory, which looks at the emotions and psychological aspects of the subject of identity and gender. Some of her late career works include Touching Feeling (2003), which focused on the relationship between feelings, affect, and pedagogy for queers. Even such topics as AIDS, death, and the connection between the body and the spirit were addressed in her essays. For example, in the book A Dialogue on Love, published in 1999, she shared her story of breast cancer. Sedgwick died in 2009, but her theories are still relevant in academia when it comes to discussions of gender, sexuality, and identity.

Quotes

"Epistemology of the Closet explores how binary thinking simplifies the complexity of desire."

"Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant."

"The closet is the defining structure for understanding gay oppression in our time."

"To identify as queer is to resist the category itself."

"No one of us is purely homo- or heterosexual."

"Paranoid reading practices are marked by suspicion, whereas reparative reading opens space for healing."

"Sexuality is as much about affect and emotion as it is about sex."

"The privilege of whiteness and heteronormativity often go unnoticed in discussions of power."

"Homosexuality is culturally constructed as an open secret in Western discourse."

"Feelings are central to the way we organize our understandings of self and other."

"The AIDS crisis revealed deep anxieties about sexuality and mortality in Western culture."

"The act of writing is itself an exploration of identity."

"Gender performativity involves how we present ourselves, shaped by societal expectations."

"Art and literature provide spaces to resist oppressive social structures."

"Queer theory challenges the boundaries between normativity and otherness."

FAQ

The question worth answering now is what did Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick contribute as a literary critic and theorist?

Sedgwick is credited with having penned some of the earliest literature in queer theory through Between Men and Epistemology of the Closet.

Sedgwick used "homosocial desire" to refer to the mechanisms that attempt to regulate male homosocial desire.

Homosocial desire is the attraction between men that is passionate and platonic and defined by the social concern of homosexuality.

What is queer theory?

As set out by Sedgwick, queer theory critiques the idea of rigid categories of sexuality and gender, arguing for the constructed nature of such categories.

Epistemology of the Closet: what is it all about?

In Epistemology of the Closet, Sedgwick analyzes how homosexuality and heterosexuality, as concepts that dominated Western culture, are constructed with the use of binary thinking and how these categories prevent one from seeing desire in its full spectrum.

In her text Between Men, Sedgwick posited that the male homosexual construction of male-male sexual relationships was the primary social fact within Western culture.

In Between Men, Sedgwick explored men's relationships with other men in English literature and how the dynamics of these relationships mirror the dominance of patriarchal authority.

What is reparative reading, and why is it important?

In her work, Sedgwick provided new avenues for the understanding of the performances of gender and sexuality and became a reference for scholars in feminist, gay and lesbian, and queer studies.

Specifically, in what way did Sedgwick contribute to gender studies?

In her work, Sedgwick provided new avenues for the understanding of the performances of gender and sexuality and became a reference for scholars in feminist, gay and lesbian, and queer studies.

Which personal experiences affected Sedgwick's work?

Sedgwick's mastectomy and her thinking about illness and the body were integral to her subsequent work in A Dialogue on Love and Touching Feeling.

What does A Dialogue on Love discuss?

A Dialogue on Love is a partly fictionalized account of Sedgwick's therapy, cancer, and gender and a poetic, prose, and psychoanalytic text.

What was the connection, if any, of Sedgwick's work to the AIDS crisis?

As Sedgwick's prolific career unfolded in the 1980s and the 1990s, she explored the emotional, cultural, as well as political effects of the AIDS epidemic on queer subjects.

Life and achievements

Early life

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was born on May 2, 1950, in Dayton, Ohio, but grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, in a Jewish household. She was a bright child, and after her education up to high school, she proceeded to Cornell University to study English literature and was among the first women to be selected to join the Telluride House.

Sedgwick received her Ph.D. from Yale University, and one of her teachers was literary critic Allan Bloom. Her first scholarly writing was in a conventional literary criticism, her subject being the Gothic novel. But she soon started building up her critical approach to look at the subtext and decode the social etiquette beneath English literature. Her first academic positions were at Hamilton College, Boston University, and Amherst College, where she started to analyze how gender and sexual norms are inscribed in texts.

Despite this, Sedgwick's thinking evolved in the mid-1980s when she began to focus more on queer theory. Between Men was her first substantial contribution to this study area, and the book discussed how homophobic culture's notions shaped male-male relationships in English literature. This book was groundbreaking, as it explained how culture and society influence how we perceive desire.

It was the start of Sedgwick's career as a prominent queer theorist, which would progress with her other publication, Epistemology of the Closet. In these works, she explored how the dichotomized concepts of homo/heterosexuality and male/female erase the multiple possibilities of sexual and gendered subjectivity.

Legacy

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick is best known for being one of the pioneers of queer theory, a direction that is expanding its impact in the human sciences to this day. Her impressive books, especially Epistemology of the Closet, fought for the diversity of the sexual subject and the absurdity of the dichotomy of thinking. Her notion of the "closet" as the primary architecture of gay oppression has now constituted the very framework for analyzing how sexual subjects are constructed in both the public and the private realms.

Sedgwick's employ of literary criticism, cultural critique, and self-narration thus turned her work into a versatile instrument that could be useful in and applied to various fields.

Sedgwick was also involved in affect theory, a realm of study that narrates how emotion or feeling works in relation to subjectivity and power. Her later works, such as Touching Feeling, explore other aspects of identity, that is, the affective dimensions of pedagogy. In this work, she developed the idea of reparative reading, a process that allows concentrating not on the defects of the texts but on their therapeutic characteristics.

This work was taken seriously inside the classroom and extended to the broader society, with Sedgwick's work laying profound impacts on discourses of gender, sexuality, and identity. She was a strong supporter of gay rights and regularly discussed cases of injustice. For instance, her work during the AIDS crisis helped to reveal how the prejudices of society regarding sex affected the medical and political approaches towards the disease.

Sedgwick passed on in 2009, but her thoughts are still influential in discussions about identity, power, and the politics of sexuality today.

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Your donation today shapes the future of how families and friends connect.
You will become a featured Ambassador.
Learn more ->
$5
$15
$25

Powered by

Come build your legacy!

Your donation today shapes the future of how families and friends connect.
You will become a featured Ambassador.
Learn more ->
$5
$15
$25

Powered by

Milestone moments

Oct 16, 1985

Publication of Between Men
In 1985, Sedgwick published Between Men: Modern Male Homosocial Desire in English Literature, a study on male relations in literature and the impact of social concerns about homosexuality on such ties.

This work coined the phrase homosocial desire, explaining nonsexual male relationships with other men dictated by societal homosexual repression.

This altered the study of gender and sexuality in literature.

It was a significant step in queer theory and established Sedgwick as one of the pioneers of the field and helped shape the study of gender and sexuality for the next several decades.

Jan 10, 1930

Publication of Between Men
In 1985, Sedgwick published Between Men: Modern Male Homosocial Desire in English Literature, a study on male relations in literature and the impact of social concerns about homosexuality on such ties.

This work coined the phrase homosocial desire, explaining nonsexual male relationships with other men dictated by societal homosexual repression.

This altered the study of gender and sexuality in literature.

It was a significant step in queer theory and established Sedgwick as one of the pioneers of the field and helped shape the study of gender and sexuality for the next several decades.

Aug 20, 1991

The Controversy over 'Jane Austen and the Masturbating Girl'
Sedgwick's "Jane Austen and the Masturbating Girl", published in 1991, was highly criticized and debated in both academic and public domains because of its provocative title and the author's desire analysis of female sexuality in Austen's novels.

The essay contrasted female suffering in Austen's novels with the medical treatment of women's masturbation in the same period, as the two were ways through which women's sexuality was policed.

This essay became the subject of the 1990s' 'culture wars', pointing to Sedgwick's desire to transgress as well as to question the norms of sexuality.

Apr 17, 1993

Publication of Tendencies
In 1993, Sedgwick published Tendencies, a collection of essays on queer performativity and AIDS activism, which established her as a leading theorist of sexuality and gender.

In this work, Sedgwick took up the term queer in its most extensive sense as a category that refuses definition around sexuality or gender, thus broadening the reach of queer theory.

This work demonstrated Sedgwick's increasing role as a leading figure in queer theory and her concern with issues of the present, such as the AIDS epidemic.

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