Composition: History & Theory: 1970 - 1979
Richard Ohmann
Description
Richard Ohmann served as the editor of College English from 1966-78. His text English in America: A Radical View of the Profession was first published in 1976 (and was published again in 1996 with a new introduction).
“What impresses one most is Dick’s courage. As editor of College English from 1966-78, Dick was the first editor of a major journal in English studies to devote an issue to what was then called “The Homosexual Imagination” (November, 1974). He was among the first editors to call into question the ‘literacy crisis’ by asking his readers whether in fact they experienced such a crisis, and, if so, how they explained it. (One of the most chastening critiques of the profession I’ve ever read is the editor’s column in which he expresses his disappointment with the insularity of the responses.) Perhaps most importantly , as Marc Bousquet points out in the interview that follows, Dick was among the small but powerful group of academics whose opposition to the war in Viet Nam prompted them to challenge, and change, the MLA hierarchy. For persons of my generation, just a bit younger than Dick, his example was an inspiration.” (Patricia Harkin)
Date of Upload
3/14/09