Lauren Berlant

Lauren Gail Berlant (October 31, 1957 – June 28, 2021) was an American scholar, cultural theorist, and author, regarded as "one of the most esteemed and influential literary and cultural critics in the United States." Berlant was the George M. Pullman Distinguished Service Professor of English at the University of Chicago, where she taught from 1984 until 2021. Berlant wrote and taught issues of intimacy and belonging in popular culture, in relation to the history and fantasy of citizenship. Berlant wrote on public spheres as they affect worlds, where affect and emotion lead the way for belonging ahead of the modes of rational or deliberative thought. These attach strangers to each other and shape the terms of the state-civil society relation. Berlant's writings have been translated into at least eight languages. Berlant's work explored themes such as queer theory, heteronormativity, and affect theory. She received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the René Wellek Prize. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018. Berlant was a founding member of Feel Tank Chicago in 2002. Her major works include 'The Anatomy of National Fantasy', 'The Queen of America Goes to Washington City', 'The Female Complaint', 'Cruel Optimism', and 'The Hundreds'.