M. H. Abrams

AmericanClassic LiteratureHistoryPhilosophyb. 1912 — d. 2015

Meyer Howard Abrams (July 23, 1912 – April 21, 2015), known as M. H. Abrams, was an American literary critic and scholar, best known for his influential works on Romanticism and his role as the general editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature. His seminal work, 'The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition' (1953), revolutionized the study of the Romantic period by introducing four critical orientations for examining literary works: mimetic, pragmatic, expressive, and objective. Abrams's scholarship focused on the transition in poetry from reflecting social realities to serving as a source of illumination. He also served as the general editor for the first seven editions of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, significantly shaping the literary canon for generations of students.

Awards

['National Humanities Medal (2013)', 'Award in Humanistic Studies from the Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984)', 'Award for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1990)', 'Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Prize', "MLA's James Russell Lowell Prize", "Keats-Shelley Society's Distinguished Scholar Award", 'Guggenheim Fellowship', 'Ford Foundation Fellowship', 'Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship']

Notable Works

['The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition (1953)', 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature (General Editor, 1962-2000)', 'Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition and Revolution in Romantic Literature (1971)', 'A Glossary of Literary Terms (1957)', 'The Milk of Paradise: The Effects of Opium Visions on the Works of De Quincey, Crabbe, Francis Thompson, and Coleridge (1934)', 'The Correspondent Breeze: Essays on English Romanticism (1984)', 'Doing Things with Texts: Essays in Criticism and Critical Theory (1989)', 'The Fourth Dimension of a Poem and Other Essays (2012)']