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Gene Andrew Jarrett

ジーン・アンドリュー・ジャレット

Jīn Andoryū Jaretto

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1975-04-21 （New York City）
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Religion
Unknown
Residence History
New York City → Princeton, New Jersey → Providence, Rhode Island → College Park, Maryland → Boston, Massachusetts → New York City

Career

Occupations
Professor of English, Literary scholar, Academic administrator
Active Years
2002-2024
Affiliations
Princeton University, New York University, Boston University, University of Maryland, College Park
Influenced By
Toni Morrison, Cornel West, Arnold Rampersad, William Faulkner, Eduardo Cadava

Education

Princeton University
Department of English
Degree: A.B.
Period: 1993-1997
Year of Graduation: 1997
Country: United States
Certificates in American Studies, African American Studies, and Applied and Computational Mathematics
Brown University
Department of English
Degree: Ph.D.
Period: 1997-2002
Year of Graduation: 2002
Country: United States
A.M. and Ph.D.

Awards

Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism
2024
Work: Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird
Organization: Iowa Writers’ Workshop
Result: Winner
ACLS Fellowship
2014
Organization: American Council of Learned Societies
Result: Recipient
Walter Jackson Bate Fellowship
2010
Organization: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University
Result: Recipient
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies
1997
Organization: Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
Result: Recipient

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird

2022 Biography

A comprehensive biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar, emphasizing the cruel paradoxes of his career, particularly how standards of racial authenticity caged him.

RaceAfrican American literatureAuthenticity

Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature

2011 Literary criticism

Parses myths of authenticity, popular culture, nationalism, and militancy in African American literature.

Racial politicsLiterary history

Deans and Truants: Race and Realism in African American Literature

2007 Literary criticism

Theorizes 'racial realism' in African American literature, where realism hampers depiction of racial experience.

Racial realismLiterary structure

Bibliography

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird
  • Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature
  • Deans and Truants: Race and Realism in African American Literature
  • The Wiley-Blackwell Anthology of African American Literature, Volume 1: 1746-1920
  • The Wiley-Blackwell Anthology of African American Literature, Volume 2: 1920 to the Present
  • A Companion to African American Literature
  • The Collected Novels of Paul Laurence Dunbar
  • The New Negro: Readings on Race, Representation, and African American Culture
  • A Long Way from Home, by Claude McKay
  • African American Literature beyond Race: An Alternative Reader
  • The Complete Stories of Paul Laurence Dunbar

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly analysisDetailed historical narrativeCritical insight
Recurring Motifs
Racial authenticityAfrican American literary historyCultural paradoxes

Legacy

Prominent scholar and critic of African American literature. Dean of the Faculty and William S. Tod Professor of English at Princeton University. Explores intersections of race and literature, recipient of numerous awards.

Quotes

  • the harder you work, the luckier you get.
    Source: Father's words
  • education is a pathway toward opportunities
    Source: Influence from parents
  • if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
    Source: About Toni Morrison (2019)

Trivia

  • Born in New York City to Jamaican immigrants.
  • Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow at Princeton.
  • Earned tenure at age 32 at University of Maryland.
  • Married to a pediatrician and professor at Boston University School of Medicine.