John G. Cawelti papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- John G. Cawelti papers
- Date
- 1971-2022, undated (inclusive)
- Creator
- Cawelti, John G. (1929-12-31)
- Extent
- 2 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- United States
- Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Study and teaching
- Universities and colleges -- Faculty.
- Cawelti, John G. (1929-12-31)
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged by format into 7 series: Research and Conference Materials, Events, Writings and Speeches, Class materials, Correspondence, Biographical, and Printed Material.
- Preferred Citation
- 2022ua072 : [identification of item], John G. Cawelti papers, 1967-2021, undated, University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- John George Cawelti (1929-2022), scholar of literature and popular culture and professor of English at the University of Kentucky, was born on December 31, 1929, in Evanston Illinois. He served in the United States Army from 1952-1954, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant. He received his BA from Oberlin College in 1951 and his MA and PhD from the University of Iowa (1956 and 1960, respectively). A founding scholar in the study of popular culture writing as literature, Cawelti was on the faculty at the University of Chicago from 1957-1980 and the University of Kentucky (UK) from 1980 to 2000. During his career at UK, he was awarded the William S. Ward Prize for Distinguished Service to the English Department, 1993; the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professorship, 1994; the UK Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Teaching; and Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher. A prolific author, his publications include Apostles of the Self-Made Man (1965); The Six-Gun Mystique (1970, second edition 1984); Why Pop? (1973); Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture (1976); The Spy Story (1987); The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel (1999); and Mystery, Violence, and Popular Culture (2004). Cawelti co-founded the Popular Culture Association, which annually presents the John G. Cawelti Award for the best scholarly text that advances the study of popular and American culture. In 1996, he was presented with the Award for Outstanding Service to American Culture Studies by the Governing Board of the American Culture Association. Cawelti was married to Elizabeth Offringa and Mary Catherine Flannery. His children include stepsons Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti, Jonathan Flannery, and Benjamin Flannery; and children Brent Cawelti and Andrea Cawelti. Cawelti died on May 30, 2022, in Louisville, Kentucky.
- Sources: 1. "John Cawelti Obituary." Chicago Tribune Obituaries. June 12, 2022. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/john-cawelti-obituary?id=35161742. Accessed 12/21/2022. 2. "John G. Cawelti." College of Arts and Sciences. https://english.as.uky.edu/users/emeritus-lee-elioseff. Accessed 12/21/2022. 3. 2022ua072: Curriculum vitae, John G. Cawelti Papers, 1967-2021, undated. University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
- Scope and Content
- The John G. Cawelti papers (dated 1967-2021, undated; 2 cubic feet; 2 record storage cartons) primarily comprise research materials, writings and speeches, correspondence, class materials, biographical information, and printed material documenting the scholarly work of English professor and scholar John G. Cawelti. The research material includes notebooks and various editions with underlines and notes for a group research project on Ulysses by James Joyce with Robert Olsen, Art Whobel, and Michael Lannon. The writings and speeches include drafts, proofs, review drafts, reprints and printed publications, and a series of typescripts and lists of works for a potential book of essays. The class materials comprise the syllabus, readings, and exam questions for a 1967 class on the western novel that Cawelti co-taught with Norman Maclean at the University of Chicago. The biographical material includes a curriculum vitae, a 1989 photograph album and scrapbook, and monographs inscribed to Cawelti. There is also a memorial album of Cawelti's National Humanities Faculty visit to Baltimore City College in June 1971 that includes drawings of participants by Olin L. Yoder and associated handwritten notes from individuals; a brochure for prospective students of The College at the University of Chicago (undated); and a 1967 publication from Frumious Press in Chicago, "CHARACTERS/ or witty descriptions of the properties of Sundry Persons/ Drawn from the pen of Sir Thomas Overbury."
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment
- Use Restrictions
- Property rights reside with the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky holds the copyright for materials created in the course of business by University of Kentucky employees. Copyright for all other materials has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Research and Conference Materials, 1991-2021, undated
On Ulysses (includes a curriculum vitae), 2020-2021, undated
On Faulkner, undated
Trip/conference notes, 1991 August
On Yeats (from colleagues), undated
Photocopy of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister, undated
Events, 1971, 2002-2003
Writings and Speeches, 1968-2004, undated
Brochure for "Searching for Scarlett: The Quest for Southern Identity in the 1980s and 90s," Distinguished Professor Lecture, University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, 1995 February 22
Proofs, "Myths and Fantasies of the West," Paradoxa no. 19, 2004
Drafts and correspondence, "Mystery as History, History as Mystery", 2003-2004
Review draft for Paul R. Gorman, "Popular Culture in Modern America", 2000
Review draft for Richard B. Schwartz, "Nice and Noir", 2000
Revised drafts, "Violence and Apple Pie", undated
"JGC Essays Works Cited and Biblio"
Published monographs, articles in journals, or edited volumes by Cawelti (7 items), 1975-2004
"Possible Essays for JGC Collection," (includes all folders following this folder), undated
Reprints and photocopies of published articles, 1968-1999, undated
Typescript, "The Significance of Literary Violence", undated
Typescript, "Myths of Violence in American Popular Culture", undated
Typescript, "The Gunfighter and the Hard-Boiled Dick: Some Ruminations on American Fantasies of Heroism", undated
Typescript, "God's Country, Las Vegas and the Gunfighter: Differing Visions of the West", undated
Typescript, "Genre and the Geographies of Violence: Cormac McCarthy and the Contemporary Western," by Susan Kollin (probably for review), undated
Class Materials, undated
Humanities 267: The Western at the University of Chicago, co-taught with Norman Maclean, undated
Correspondence, 2010, 2015-2016
Biographical, 1979-2015
Biographical sketches (see curriculum vitae in Ulysses research materials), undated
Honors and awards, 1994
Newspaper clippings, 1985
Photograph album/scrapbook, "Red Mile, Fulbright, Early and Misc", 1989?
Monographs inscribed to Cawelti (5 items), 1979-2015
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Table of Contents
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
