Dr. Helen Deutsch

Biography

Helen Deutsch's work is fueled by her love of literature and authors. She practices a unique kind of feminist historical formalism that reads texts in the relationship of the embodied lives of the writers who produced them. Her books consider the singular bodies of authors like Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson, exploring their symbiotic relationship and the uniquely imitative literary style they produced amidst contested critical reception. Deutsch remains proud to be a Johnsonian and cites Pope as her favorite poet, whom Johnson trenchantly called a 'good hater.' Her recent book, 'Amateur,' examines how a single-author framework can help us learn to love authors while transforming the process itself. She scrutinizes Edward Said's relationship with Jonathan Swift to raise questions about her own profession within literary studies. Deutsch has been a faculty member at UCLA since 1992, spending four years as Director of the Center for 17th- and 18th-Century Studies and the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. She has held fellowships from the NEH and ACLS and served on various committees, including the MLA. Currently, she is involved in a collaborative research initiative on 'Abolition Medicine and Disability Justice.'

Research Interests