Richard Ohmann

Richard Malin Ohmann (July 11, 1931 – October 8, 2021) was an American literary critic.

Richard Malin Ohmann was born on July 11, 1931, in Shaker Heights, Ohio.^[1][2] He received a bachelor's degree in literature from Oberlin College in 1952 and a master's and doctorate from Harvard University in 1954 and 1960, respectively.^[1][2]

He began teaching at Wesleyan University in 1961, where he was the associate provost from 1966 to 1969.^[1] He was a full professor of English from 1966 and was named the Benjamin Waite Professor of the English Language at some point.^[3][2] Ohmann held a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964–65.^[2][4]

Ohmann was a Marxist.^[5] At Wesleyan, he taught a course called "Economics of Fiction".^[6] In the late 1970s he designed and oversaw a Wesleyan course called "Towards a Socialist America."^[7]

Ohmann died on October 8, 2021, in Hawley, Massachusetts.^[1]

Books

• Shaw: The Style and the Man. Wesleyan University Press. 1962. OCLC 362085.^[8]
• English in America: A Radical View of the Profession. Oxford University Press. 1976. OCLC 1978095. (one chapter by Wallace W. Douglas)^[9]
• Politics of Letters. Wesleyan University Press. 1987. ISBN 978-0-8195-5175-7. OCLC 15198215.^[10]
• Selling Culture: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century. Verso Books. 1996. ISBN 978-1-85984-974-3. OCLC 33403761.^[11]

References

1. Risen, Clay (November 3, 2021). "Richard M. Ohmann, 90, Dies; Brought Radical Politics to College English". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
2. "Ohmann, Richard (Malin) 1931–". Contemporary Authors. Vol. 13–16. Gale. November 1975. p. 605. ISBN 0-8103-0027-3. OCLC 760318060.
3. "Ohmann Remembered For Transforming University Life and Culture". Wesleyan University. October 14, 2021. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
4. "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Richard M. Ohmann". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
5. "Politics of Letters". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
6. Miller, Laura (October 1, 1980). "Author cites 'Economics of Fiction'". The Capital Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Wallenstein, James (December 27, 2021). "Richard Ohmann: The Radical Professor Who Enraged the Right". Politico.
8. Reviews of Shaw:
   • Wheatley, James H. (1964). "Review of Shaw: The Style and the Man". Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 63 (4): 822–824. ISSN 0363-6941. JSTOR 27714567.
   • McDowell, Frederick P. W. (January 1964). Philological Quarterly. 43 (1): 141–144. ProQuest 1290912156.
   • Meisel, Martin (July 1963). South Atlantic Quarterly. 62 (3): 448–449. doi:10.1215/00382876-62-3-448. S2CID 257866201. p. 449
9. Reviews of English in America:
   • Trimbur, John (October 1993). "English in America: A Radical View of the Profession". College Composition and Communication. 44 (3): 389. doi:10.2307/358992. JSTOR 358992.
   • Ericson, Edward E. (1977). Christianity and Literature. 26 (2): 31–35. ISSN 0148-3331. JSTOR 26289974.
   • Friedman, Michael H. (1978). "Review of English in America: A Radical View of the Profession". Science & Society. 42 (3): 371–374. ISSN 0036-8237. JSTOR 40402121.
10. Reviews of Politics of Letters:
    • Clifford, John (1989). "Review of Politics of Letters". Journal of Advanced Composition. 9: 188–191. ISSN 0731-6755. JSTOR 20865682.
    • Carey, James W. (June 28, 1987). "Politics of Letters by Richard Ohmann". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
    • Myers, D.G. (November 1988). "Marx & English". The New Criterion. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
11. Reviews of Selling Culture:
    • Distad, Merrill (1998). "Review of Selling Culture: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century". Victorian Periodicals Review. 31 (2): 190–192. ISSN 0709-4698. JSTOR 20083069.
    • Hamilton, Sharon (1998). "Review of Selling Culture: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century". American Periodicals. 8: 99–103. ISSN 1054-7479. JSTOR 20771117.
    • Hackney, Fiona (1998). "Review of Selling Culture: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century". Journal of Design History. 11 (3): 268–271. doi:10.1093/jdh/11.3.268. ISSN 0952-4649. JSTOR 1316263.

Further reading

• Wallenstein, James (December 27, 2021). "Richard Ohmann: The Radical Professor Who Enraged the Right". Politico.