Lee Edelman

Lee Edelman (born 1953) is an American literary critic and academic. He serves as a professor of English at Tufts University. He is the author of three books.

Lee Edelman was born in 1953. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University, and he received an MPhil and a PhD from Yale University.

Edelman began his academic career as a scholar of twentieth-century American poetry. He has since become a central figure in the development, dissemination, and rethinking of queer theory. His current work explores the intersections of sexuality, rhetorical theory, cultural politics, and film. He holds an appointment as the Fletcher Professor of English Literature and has served as the Chair of the English Department. He gained international recognition for his books about queer theory, post-structuralism, psychoanalytic theory, and cultural studies.

Edelman is the author of three books. His first book, Transmemberment of Song: Hart Crane's Anatomies of Rhetoric and Desire, is a critic of Hart Crane's poetry. It was reviewed by Margaret Dickie of the University of Georgia in American Literature. His second book, Homographesis: Essays in Gay Literary and Cultural Theory, explores the significance of gay literature. His third book, No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, is a post-Lacanian analysis of queer theory. It was reviewed by Carolyn Dever of Vanderbilt University in Victorian Studies and Antonis Balasopoulos of the University of Cyprus in the Journal of American Studies.

Edelman is married to critic, novelist, and fellow English professor Joseph Litvak.

2006 Lerman-Neubauer Award for Outstanding Teaching and Advising
2005 Named Fletcher Chair of English Literature
1998 Awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award by Tufts University
1994 Tufts Class of 1994 Recognition for Excellence
1993 Chosen by Alumni of Class of 1986 as one of Tufts' Most Influential Teachers
1989 Crompton-Noll Award of the MLA for "Redeeming the Phallus"
1989 Lillian and Joseph Leibner Award for Distinguished Teaching and Advising