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Vivian Gornick

ヴィヴィアン・ゴーニック

Vivian Gornick

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1935-06-14 （The Bronx, New York City, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism (background)
Residence History
New York City (The Bronx) → Berkeley, California (residence/studies) → New York (later residence and base of activities)

Career

Occupations
author, memoirist, essayist, journalist, critic
Active Years
1960-
Affiliations
The Village Voice (reporter, 1969–1977), The New School (taught writing), Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University (fellow, 2007–2008), University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program (Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor, 2015)
Influenced By
Emma Goldman, Radical feminist thinkers (e.g., Shulamith Firestone), Leftist and communist political traditions

Education

City College of New York
Degree: BA
Period: 1950年代 - 卒業 1957年
Year of Graduation: 1957
Country: United States
New York University
Degree: MA
Period: 1958–1960頃
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: United States
University of California, Berkeley (pursued PhD studies)
Period: 1960年代（在籍・博士課程進学を志望）
Country: United States
Sources indicate PhD studies were pursued; completion not clearly documented

Awards

Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Nonfiction)
2021
Work: Taking a Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time
Organization: Windham–Campbell Foundation / Yale University
Result: 受賞
National Book Award (nomination)
1974
Work: In Search of Ali Mahmoud: an American Woman in Egypt
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: ノミネート
National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism, Finalist)
1997
Work: The End of the Novel of Love
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 最終候補
National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism, Finalist)
2008
Work: The Men in My Life
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 最終候補

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fierce Attachments: A Memoir

1987 memoir / essays

A memoir tracing Gornick's relationship with family, especially her mother, exploring selfhood, gender, and attachment from a personal perspective.

familymother-daughter relationshipidentitygender

The Romance of American Communism

1977 history / cultural criticism

An examination of the American communist movement and its cultural and personal effects, combining historical research with personal recollections.

American leftist movementspolitical identitymemory

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

2001 literary criticism / essays

A series of essays on the craft and possibilities of personal narrative, offering insights into writing memoir and autobiographical storytelling.

narrative techniquememoir theorycraft of writing

The Odd Woman and the City

2015 essays / memoir

A collection of essays reflecting on urban life, solitude, and independence as an older woman, drawing on experiences in New York.

city lifeagingwomen's independence

Taking a Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time

2021 essays / cultural criticism

A recent collection of essays on culture, literature, and feminism, offering insights grounded in decades of criticism and reflection.

feminismcultural criticismliterary criticism

Bibliography

  • Woman in Sexist Society: Studies in Power and Powerlessness (ed., 1971)
  • In Search of Ali Mahmoud: an American Woman in Egypt (1973)
  • The Romance of American Communism (1977)
  • Essays in Feminism (1978)
  • Women in Science: Portraits from a World in Transition (1983)
  • Fierce Attachments: A Memoir (1987)
  • Approaching Eye Level (1996)
  • The End of the Novel of Love (1997)
  • The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative (2001)
  • The Solitude of Self: Thinking About Elizabeth Cady Stanton (2005)
  • The Men in My Life (2008)
  • Women in Science: Then and Now (2009)
  • Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life (2011)
  • The Odd Woman and the City (2015)
  • Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader (2020)
  • Taking a Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time (2021)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
frank, analytical personal-memoir stylefusion of cultural criticism and personal historyclear, direct narrative voice
Recurring Motifs
family and memorygender and feminismpolitical/ideological background (communism)the city (especially New York)

Legacy

Vivian Gornick is recognized for a distinctive style that blends personal memoir and cultural criticism. Through her recollections and analyses of feminism and American leftist movements she has expanded the boundaries between memoir and criticism, influencing later memoirists and cultural critics.

Archives

  • Jewish Women's Archive (online biographical material)
  • Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University (fellowship records)

Trivia

  • Raised in a household where communist newspapers like the Daily Worker and Morgen Freiheit were staples («red diaper baby» upbringing).
  • Her 1969 Village Voice essay helped catalyze the founding of the New York Radical Feminists.
  • Recipient of the Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Nonfiction) in 2021.