Michael Austin (writer)

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Michael Austin
a white man with short brown hair wearing a black polo and rectangular glasses smirks
Austin in 2013
Born1966
OccupationExecutive vice president of the University of Evansville
LanguageEnglish
Alma materBrigham Young University; University of California, Santa Barbara
Notable worksReading the World: Ideas that Matter; That’s Not What They Meant! Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America’s Right Wing; Re-Reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poem
Notable awardsAML Lifetime Achievement Award
Website
https://founderstein.blogspot.com/

Michael Austin (b. 1966) is a university administrator, author, and critic of Mormon literature.

Early life and education

Austin was born in Provo, Utah, in 1966.[1][2] Austin started studying at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1984.[3][2] He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the California Fresno mission, Spanish-speaking 1985-1987.[4][5] He returned to BYU to received his Bachelor's (1990) and Master's (1992) degrees in English. He studied at University of California, Santa Barbara for a PhD in English literature starting in 1992 and received his degree in 1997.[3][2]

Administrative career

Austin was the chair of the English and modern languages department at Shepherd University, and later became dean of graduate studies there.[3] He was the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Newman University starting in December 2008.[3] He is the executive vice president of academic affairs and provost of the University of Evansville in Indiana.[6][7]

Academic work

While working at Shepherd University, Austin taught freshman composition and world literature. He collected his selections for his world literature classes in a textbook entitled Reading the World: Ideas that Matter, which is a bestseller.[8][2] His book Useful fictions (2011) was selected as a CHOICE outstanding academic title in the Language and Literature category.[9]

New Testaments: Cognition, Closure, and the Figural Logic of the Sequel, 1660–1740 (2012) examines how sequels to popular works in the 17th and 18th centuries were demonstrated a human need for closure, but a resistance to a complete end.[10] Austin envisions the New Testament of the Bible as a "sequel" to the Old Testament, and argues that sequels of the 1660-1740 period use the same methods of Biblical typology. In the same way that the New Testament reinterprets the Old Testament to prefigure Christ, so do the literary sequels reinterpret the texts they follow. Austin focused specifically on sequels or second parts to Paradise Lost, Pilgrim's Progress, and Robinson Crusoe. Elizabeth Kraft observed that Austin's "critical alertness" resulted in "richly textured revisionary interpretations" of the works he analyzed.[11] John Traver at Digital Defoe found New Testaments to be "a very valuable approach for looking at the eighteenth-century sequel" but with "some limitations in its capacity to treat many poems or non-fictional prose 'sequels'".[12] In Kevin Seidel's review of the monograph, he acknowledges Austin's "good insights" but criticizes his conception of the relationship between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible to make comparisons to sequels in the 17th and 18th centuries. Seidel stated that Austin compares sequels to the Old and New Testaments in a way that is convenient for his arguments.[13]

In an interview about the book on CSPAN 2's BookTalk, Austin summarized his book, That’s Not What They Meant!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America’s Right Wing (2012). He said that far-right politicians and conservative pundits have mischaracterized and mythologized the founding fathers as a hive mind, when they had views that contradicted each other and even themselves. Austin calls this hive mind "founderstein." The politicians and pundits attribute one or two things said by the founding fathers to represent them as a whole in order to shut down debate. Austin conceded that this trend has been ongoing for 200 years.[14] Publisher's Weekly found the book to be unbalanced, stating that Austin criticized right-wing entertainers and politicians but not left-wing ones, concluding that his "self-righteous disdain" would appeal to readers who had negative preconceptions about America's right wing.[15] In a review for Free Inquiry, Rob Boston attributes Austin's focus on right-wing distortions to their commonly held belief that the original constitution is "a set-in-stone document". Boston complimented the "refreshing clarity" of Austin's writing and its sourcing.[16]

We must not be enemies: restoring America's civic tradition (2019) looks at the history of democracy from its origins in Greece as a method of befriending people different from us. At its core, democracy requires investments from its citizens, including good-faith argumentation.[17] At CHOICE, S. Mitropolitski recommended the book, describing it as combining ideas from cognitive psychology, theories of democracy, and history.[8] Writing for the Journal of World Peace, Susan Cushman described it positively as "draw[ing] on examples from history to deliver a modern message".[18]

Mormon studies

Austin's first published academic article was "The Function of Mormon Literary Criticism at the Present Time," which was published in the Winter 1995 issue of Dialogue.[2][19] The article won the 1995 Association for Mormon Letters award for criticism.[20] The essay seeks to go beyond a simple dichotomy of literature that is faith-promoting or faith-destroying. It argues that the existence of a "Mormon literature" implies that the religious background of LDS Church members has created a greater cultural movement, at least in America. With this distinction, Mormon faculty at secular universities should contribute to criticism of Mormon literature as part of their regular research duties.[19]: 132, 134  He argued for an expansive definition of Mormon literature that would include journals and pamphlets and books written for non-Mormon audiences.[19]: 137, 142  His concluding argument was that only faithful Mormons can critique Mormon literature as faithful Mormons, and that accomplishing such literary criticism would legitimate the field of Mormon letters.[19]: 144  Austin acknowledged the work as an "apprenticeship essay" concerned with the identity politics that were popular in the 1990s, but asserted in 2011 that he still believes in his core argument.[21] In response to the essay, Joanna Brooks asked who we would define as "faithful Mormons": "The practitioners of Mormon "letters" can no longer seek familiar signs--ecclesiastical credentials, odd artifacts, or old assumptions, even when they pass as "metaphors"--as evidence of some abiding, essential kernel of "Mormon-ness."[22] Austin's second academic publication, in 1997 on Angels in America, was also through Dialogue.[2][23] At editor Levi Peterson's request, Austin became the book review editor at Dialogue from 2004 to 2006 and also served on the board of directors for the publication for two years during that time. He served again on the board of directors in 2012.[2]

Austin has edited several books relating to Mormon literary studies. He edited A Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams (2005). The collection of interviews "reveal Williams's passion for the land and her relationship with it."[24][25] Austin co-edited Peculiar Portrayals: Mormons on the Page, Stage, and Screen (2010), which Eric Samuelsen hailed as "an outstanding group of papers".[26][27]

Austin has collaborated with Ardis Parshall to edit The Mormon Image in Literature, a series of public domain books that contain significant portrayals of Mormons. It included The Mormoness; Or, The Trials Of Mary Maverick: A Narrative Of Real Events, Boadicea; the Mormon Wife: Life Scenes in Utah, and Dime Novel Mormons (a collection of four dime novels).[28] Dime Novel Mormons won the John Whitmer Historical Association award for best anthology in 2018.[29] Austin also collaborated with Parshall to edit Josephine Spencer: Her Collected Works, Volume 1, 1887–1899 (2022).[30]

Austin co-founded[31] BCC Press, a non-profit publisher, in 2017, with Steve Evans and Kristine Haglund.[32][33] He is the press's director.[31]

Awards

Austin's works have received several awards from the Association for Mormon Letters (AML). Two of his books have received the award for religious non-fiction: Re-Reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poem (2014), and Buried Treasures: Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time (2020).[34][35] His monograph Vardis Fisher: A Mormon Novelist (2021) won the award for criticism.[31] Austin himself received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AML in 2022. The award citation praised the way he "models both enthusiastic celebration of good work and the possibility of intelligent and humane disagreement with bad work."[31]

List of published works

As author

  • Reading the World: Ideas that Matter (2007, first ed.)
  • Useful fictions (2011)
  • New Testaments: Cognition, Closure, and the Figural Logic of the Sequel, 1660–1740 (2012)
  • That’s Not What They Meant!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America’s Right Wing (2012)
  • Re-Reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poem (2014)
  • We must not be enemies: restoring America's civic tradition (2019)
  • Buried Treasures: Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time (2020)
  • Vardis Fisher: A Mormon Novelist (2021)

As editor or co-editor

  • A Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams (2005)
  • Peculiar Portrayals: Mormons on the Page, Stage, and Screen (2010)
  • The Mormoness; Or, The Trials Of Mary Maverick: A Narrative Of Real Events (2016)
  • Reasoning Beasts: Evolution, Cognition, and Culture, 1720–1820 (2017)
  • Boadicea; the Mormon Wife: Life Scenes in Utah (2016)
  • Dime Novel Mormons (2017)
  • Josephine Spencer: Her Collected Works, Volume 1, 1887–1899 (2022)

References

  1. ^ "Austin, Michael, 1966-". Library of Congress Authorities. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Austin, Michael (13 September 2016). "Dialogue, and Me, at 50". By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Newman Welcomes Michael Austin As Provost, V.P. For Academic Affairs – Newman Today". 29 May 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  4. ^ Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, Michael Austin, and Jacob Hess (2021). Mormon Land (Podcast). The Salt Lake Tribune. Event occurs at 18:35.
  5. ^ "Michael Austin". By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  6. ^ Hale, Lee (13 April 2017). "Independent Mormon Press Seeks To Highlight Inquisitive, Faithful Voices". KUER. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Office Staff - Office of Academic Affairs". www.evansville.edu. University of Evansville. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b Mitropolitski, S. (October 2019). "Austin, Michael. We must not be enemies: restoring America's civic tradition". CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. 57 (2).
  9. ^ "Outstanding academic titles, 2011". CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. 49 (5). January 2012.
  10. ^ "New Testaments: Cognition, Closure, and the Figural Logic of the Sequel, 1660–1740". Rowman & Littlefield. University of Delaware Press.
  11. ^ Kraft, Elizabeth (Spring 2015). "New Testaments: Cognition, Closure, and the Figural Logic of the Sequel, 1660-1740". The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats. 47/48 (2/1): 84–86. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  12. ^ Traver, John C. (Fall 2014). "Review of New Testaments: Cognition, Closure, and the Figural Logic of the Sequel, 1660–1740". Digital Defoe: Studies in Defoe & His Contemporaries. 6 (1): 145. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  13. ^ Seidel, Kevin (Fall 2013). "Review: New Testaments: Cognition, Closure, and the Figural Logic of the Sequel, 1660-1740 by Michael Austin". : Restoration: Studies in English Literary Culture, 1660-1700. 37 (2): 79–81. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  14. ^ Fontana, David. "After Words with Michael Austin". www.c-span.org. CSPAN. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  15. ^ "That's Not What They Meant!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America's Right Wing by". www.pubishersweekly.com. Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  16. ^ Boston, Rob (December 2012/January 2013). "Reclaiming the Founders' Words". Free Inquiry: 67–68. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Stockwell, Norman (1 June 2019). "We Could All Use a Little Democracy". Progressive.org. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  18. ^ Cushman, Susan E. (September 2020). "WE MUST NOT BE ENEMIES: RESTORING AMERICA'S CIVIC TRADITION". International Journal on World Peace. 37 (3).
  19. ^ a b c d Austin, Michael (Winter 1995). "The Function of Mormon Literary Criticism at the Present Time". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 28 (4). Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  20. ^ "AML Awards 1990 – 1999". The Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  21. ^ Langford, Jonathon (31 March 2011). "Interview with Michael Austin". DAWNING OF A BRIGHTER DAY Twenty-First Century Mormon Literature. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  22. ^ Brooks, Joanna (3 April 2018). "Prolegomena to Any Future Mormon Studies". www.dialoguejournal.com. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  23. ^ Austin, Michael (Spring 1997). "Theology for the Approaching Millennium: Angels in America, Activism, and the American Religion" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Book Notice". Journal of Mormon History. 34 (1): 278. Winter 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  25. ^ Austin, Michael, ed. (2006). Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 978-0-87421-634-9.
  26. ^ Samuelsen, Eric. "Peculiar Portrayals". BYU Studies. 53 (1). Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  27. ^ Decker, Mark; Austin, Michael, eds. (2010). Peculiar Portrayals: Mormons on the Page, stage, and Screen. Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87421-773-5.
  28. ^ "The Mormon Image in Literature". gregkofford.com. Greg Kofford Books. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  29. ^ "JWHA Awards". www.jwha.info. John Whitmer Historical Association. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  30. ^ "Parshall, Austin, "Josephine Spencer: Her Collected Works, Volume 1, 1887–1899" Reviewed by Conor Hilton". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  31. ^ a b c d Haglund, Christine. "Michael Austin: The 2022 AML Lifetime Achievement Award". The Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  32. ^ "About". BCC Press.
  33. ^ Stack, Peggy Fletcher. "Mormon blog opens a new chapter, will now spread the word as a nonprofit book publisher". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  34. ^ "AML Awards 2014". The Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  35. ^ Hall, Andrew (7 June 2021). "2020 AML Award Winners". The Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
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