Staff profile

Professor Richard Freadman

Professor, Program Coordinator

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry

HU2 529, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

BA Hons (Brandeis), DPhil (Oxford), Director, Unit for Studies in biography and Autobiography.

Area of study

English
Creative Writing
Creative Arts

Brief profile

My earlier research interests included the English and American novel, literary theory, relations between literary theory and philosophy, relations between ethics, autobiography and literature, the history of literary scholarship in Australia, theory of biography, and ethnic autobiography, and my own 'creative non-fiction' writing. Whilst I still work in some of these areas my main current research interests are Australian Jewish autobiography, illness life writing, biographical and autobiographical theory, and creative non-fiction, which I continue to write.

Research interests

Literary Studies

- Biography

- History of the novel

- Nineteenth and early twentieth century fiction

Media Studies

- Narrative theory

Teaching units

  • ENG1WYL - Writing your own life.
  • ENG2/3WFI - Writing fiction.
  • ENG3WAB - Writing autobiography.

Recent publications

  • Threads of Life: Autobiography and the will (University of Chicago Press, 2001).
  • Renegotiating Ethics in Literature, Philosophy, and Theory (Cambridge, 1998) [Co-edited with Jane Adamson and David Parker].
  • Rethinking Theory: A Critique of Contemporary Literary Theory and an Alternative Account (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992) [Co-authored with Seumas Miller].
  • Eliot, James and the Fictional Self: A Study in Character and Narration (London: Macmillan, 1986).
  • On Literary Theory and Philosophy: A Cross-disciplinary encounter (London: Macmillan, 1991) [Edited with Lloyd Reinhardt].
  • Shadow of Doubt: My Father and Myself (Melbourne: Bystander, 2003).
  • This Crazy Thing a Life: Australian Jewish Autobiography (Perth: University of Western Australia Press).

Older publications

Life writing and remission from illness Autopathography