Walter Benn Michaels

Walter Benn Michaels (born 1948) is an American literary theorist and author whose areas of research include American literature (particularly 19th-century to 20th-century), critical theory, identity politics, and visual arts.[1]

Known for challenging the "prevailing trends of postmodernist theory," Michaels has produced works connecting postmodernism, neoliberal capitalism, and socioeconomic inequality.[2] Two of his best-known books are Our America: Nativism, Modernism and Pluralism (1995) and The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History (2004)[3]—the latter being adopted from his 2001 essay of the same name.[2]

  1. ^ "Michaels, Walter Benn | English | University of Illinois Chicago".
  2. ^ a b Winterhalter, Benjamin. 2019 November 16. "Walter Benn Michaels: What’s His Deal?" JSTOR Daily.
  3. ^ Michaels, Walter Benn. 2004. The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691126180. Lay summary.