Guide to the Joel Fineman Papers, ca. 1974-1989

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Social Sciences --Education History --History, University of California --History, UC Berkeley History --History, Europe --History, United Kingdom Arts and Humanities --Literature --English Literature Arts and Humanities --Literature --American Literature Arts and Humanities --Literature --Criticism and Theory

Guide to the Joel Fineman Papers, ca. 1974-1989

Collection number: BANC MSS 90/44 c

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

Processed by:
Karen Gracy
Date Completed:
July 1991
Encoded by:
Gabriela A. Montoya
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Joel Fineman Papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1974-1989
Collection Number: BANC MSS 90/44 c
Collector: Fineman, Joel.
Extent: Number of containers: 2 boxes, 4 cartons Linear feet: 5.8
Repository: The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Collection includes professional and personal correspondence, articles and extensive notes and research regarding Fineman's Shakespearean literary scholarship, emphasizing the principles of contemporary psychoanalysis and structuralism as tools of criticism.
Languages Represented: English

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Manuscripts Division. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. The literary executor of the estate of Joel Fineman is Bentley Layton, of Yale University. Requests for permission to publish are to be directed to Professor Layton and to Elliot Fineman. Consult repository for address.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Joel Fineman papers, BANC MSS 90/44 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Materials Cataloged Separately

  • Videotapes/sound recordings have been transferred to the Microforms Division of The Bancroft Library.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Joel Fineman Papers were donated to The Bancroft Library on September 26, 1989 by his brother, Elliot Fineman.

Biography

Joel Fineman, son of Alan Finemanand Sylvia Balakoff Fineman, was born in New York City on January 14, 1947. He received his B.A. (cum laude) in English from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1974.
From 1969 to 1971, Fineman was a teaching assistant at SUNY-Buffalo. He became an instructor at the University of the Negev in Beersheva, Israel for the years 1972-1973. Through a teaching fellowship, he returned to New York in 1974 as an adjunct instructor at Hunter College, City University of New York. In 1976-1977, Fineman was honored as the Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow at The Center for the Humanities, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Lastly, he returned to the University of California, Berkeley as an assistant professor in 1977; he was promoted to associate professor status in 1983.
In addition to the honor of being named a Mellon Fellow in 1976, Joel Fineman was a Visiting Fellow at New York University's Institute for the Humanities in the summer of 1980 and won a National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship in 1981. In 1985 he was named a Fellow by the Guggenheim Foundation and in 1986 he was the recipient of the James Russell Lowell Prize, given to him by the Modern Language Association of America for his crowning achievement, Shakespeare's Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets.
Fineman supplemented his personal academic pursuits by his participation on the editorial boards of several journals, including Representations and October. He was a frequent guest lecturer at universities and scholarly institutions in both the United States and abroad.
Joel Fineman died March 28, 1989 at the age of 42. At the time of his death, he was working on his proposed second book, Shakespeare's Will, a study of the playwright's influence on theorization of person.

Scope and Content

Joel Fineman's correspondents consist mainly of colleagues, either those with whom he associated during his doctoral years at the State University of New York or those who were associate professors at the University of California, Berkeley during the same period as he. Other correspondents include publishers and prospective publishers.
Fineman's writings are centered mainly on the study of Shakespeare, with an emphasis on the principles of contemporary psychoanalysis and structuralism as tools of criticism. Other subjects that he pursued included the history and theory of criticism and the history of drama. Also, Fineman reviewed and responded to works by others that are concerned with his subjects of study, and he often gave lectures (or read shortened versions) of his works.
The subject files are quite comprehensive and include ample information on the works that Fineman studied, both in notes and research. By starting with the material contained in these files, it would be possible to trace the path that Fineman took from a germinating idea to the finished product. Almost every work of Shakespeare is represented and there are notes on many of the theories of Freud and psychoanalysis.
There are minimal files on Fineman's course materials; the lack of lecture notes is the most serious deficiency. Class readers and syllabi comprise the major part of this portion of the collection.
The personal files on Joel Fineman contain details of his professional career, such as Fineman's curriculum vitae, information on his academic honors, and reviews of his book, Shakespeare's Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets.

Boxes 1- 2

Series 1: Correspondence, 1974-1989.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by name of recipient or writer, and chronologically where appropriate.
Mainly professional correspondence with colleagues of Joel Fineman, which has been divided into two subseries: and Miscellaneous correspondence is categorized alphabetically, with each correspondent listed below the general heading of [Letter] - miscellaneous.
 

Outgoing Correspondence

Box 1, folder 

A - miscellaneous 1976-85

 

Abel, Elizabeth

 

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

 

Arac, Jonathan

folder 2

Alpers, Paul J. 1980-84, n.d.

folder 3

Art in America 1983

folder 4

B - miscellaneous 1975-84

 

Beckerman, Bernard

 

Bergeron, David Moore

 

Blickman, Dan

folder 5

Barber, C. L. (Cesar Lombardi) 1975

folder 6

Bevington, David Moore 1975-76

folder 7

Bollas, Christopher 1979

folder 8

C - miscellaneous 1978-87

 

California Book Company

 

Christ, Carol T.

 

Columbia University. Press.

 

[Crews?], Fred[erick C.]

 

Cuddihy, John Murray

folder 9

De Man, Paul 1979-80

folder 10

F - miscellaneous 1976-79

 

[Fish?], Stanley [Eugene]

 

Fletcher, Angus John Stewart

 

The Free Press

folder 11

G - miscellaneous 1975, n.d.

 

Gamel, Mary Kay

 

Girard, René

 

[Greenblatt?], Stephen [Jay]

folder 12

Grossman, Allan 1975-79

folder 13

H - miscellaneous n.d.

 

Hertz, Neil

folder 14

Harari, Josué V. 1979-80, n.d.

folder 15

Holland, Norman Norwood 1975-76

folder 16

Human Sciences Press 1977

folder 17

J - miscellaneous 1985, n.d.

 

Jed, Stephanie H.

 

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

folder 18

Krauss, Rosalind E. 1979-80, n.d.

folder 19

Layton, Bentley 1977, n.d.

folder 20

M - miscellaneous 1979-80, n.d.

 

McClung, William A.

 

[Miller?], D. A.

 

Moravcsik, J. M. E.

 

Murray, Michael

folder 21

Nelson, Marie Coleman 1975-79, n.d.

folder 22

New Literary History 1978-79

folder 23

P - miscellaneous 1978

 

Princeton University Press

folder 24

Parker, Pat 1983-85, n.d.

folder 25

Q - miscellaneous 1984

 

Quint, David

folder 26

Schwartz, Murray M. 1975-80, n.d.

folder 27

Stern, Jeffrey 1979, n.d.

folder 28

U-V - miscellaneous 1974-84

 

The University of Chicago. Modern Philology

 

The Village Voice

folder 29

White, Hayden V. 1979, n.d.

folder 30

Wollheim, Richard 1979-80, n.d.

folder 31

Y - miscellaneous 1987

 

The Yale Journal of Criticism

folder 32

Unidentified correspondents 1979-83, n.d.

 

Incoming Correspondence

Box 2, folder 1

A - miscellaneous 1976-83, n.d.

 

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

 

[Altman?], Joel [B.]

 

Art in America

folder 2

The Alliance for Creative Theatre, Education & Research (ACTER) 1984

folder 3

B - miscellaneous 1975-79, n.d.

 

Barber, C. L. (Cesar Lombardi)

 

Basic Books, Inc.

 

[Bernstein?], Michael [A.]

 

Bevington, David Moore

 

Bollas, Christopher

 

[Breitwieser?], Mitch[ell Robert]

 

Buesl, Jim

folder 4

Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1987

folder 5

C - miscellaneous 1974-88

 

The City University of New York. Graduate School and University Center

 

Cobb/Dunlop Publisher Services, Inc.

 

Cornell University Press

 

[Crews?], Fred[erick C.]

 

Critical Inquiry

 

Cuddihy, John Murray

folder 6

Culler, Jonathan D. 1987

folder 7

D - miscellaneous n.d.

 

[Damon, Phillip Whitcomb?]

folder 8

De Man, Paul 1979

folder 9

The English Institute, Inc. 1979

folder 10

F - miscellaneous 1976-79

 

Fish, Stanley Eugene

 

The Free Press

folder 11

G - miscellaneous 1984-86, n.d.

 

Gamel, Mary Kay

 

Green, Douglas E.

 

[Greenblatt?], Stephen [Jay]

 

Green, Douglas E.

folder 12

Grossman, Allan 1975-79

folder 13

H - miscellaneous 1980-86

 

Hageman, Elizabeth

 

Harari, Josué V.

folder 14

Harris, Patricia S. 1987-88

folder 15

The Humanities Institute 1987

folder 16

Human Sciences Press 1977

folder 17

J - miscellaneous 1979-85, n.d.

 

Jed, Stephanie H.

 

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

 

Johns Hopkins University Press

folder 18

K - miscellaneous 1986-89, n.d.

 

Kahn, Coppélia

 

Klause, John

 

[Knapp?], Jeff[rey Dana]

 

[Knapp?], Steve[n]

folder 19

Kent State University. Center for Literature and Psychoanalysis 1987-88

folder 20

L - miscellaneous n.d.

 

Lee, G. K. [?]

folder 21

Layton, Bentley 1977-78

folder 22

Literature and Psychology 1986-88

folder 23

M - miscellaneous

 

MacCary, W. Thomas 1980-88

 

Methuen, Inc.

 

Methuen & Co., Ltd.

 

Modern Language Association of America (MLA)

 

Murray, Michael

folder 24

N - miscellaneous 1978-80

 

Nelson, Marie Coleman

 

[Nelson?], Alan [H.]

folder 25

New Literary History 1978-79

folder 26

O - miscellaneous

 

October 1988

folder 27

The Princeton University Press 1978

folder 28

The Psychoanalytic Review 1975-77

folder 29

R - miscellaneous 1987-88

 

Reed, Arden

 

Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.

folder 30

Ross, Kristin n.d.

folder 31

Roth, Michael S. 1987

folder 32

S - miscellaneous 1979-82, n.d.

 

Sonoma State University. Dept. of Philsophy

 

Standaert, Benoit

 

State University of New York at Buffalo. Center for the Psychological Study of the Arts

folder 33

Schwartz, Murray M. 1975-79

folder 34

The Self-In-Process Series 1975-78

folder 35

Stanton, Dr. Kay 1986

folder 36

Stern, Jeffrey 1979-80, n.d.

folder 37

T - miscellaneous 1976

 

Tobias, Sheila

folder 38

U - miscellaneous 1979-87

 

University of California, Berkeley. Physics Library

 

University of Illinois at Chicago

 

University of Utah. Office of the Dean

 

University Publishing

folder 39

University of California Press 1983-88

folder 40

University of Chicago. Modern Philology 1982-84

folder 41

Veeser, H. Aram 1987-88

folder 42

W - miscellaneous 1979-87

 

Wilburn, David

 

Wollheim, Richard

folder 43

The Yale Journal of Criticism 1987

folder 44

Unidentified correspondents 1978-87, n.d.

Cartons 1-2; Carton 3, Folders 1-26

Series 2: Writings, [ca. 1974-1988].

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by title.
Joel Fineman's writings have been divided into five subseries: monographs, articles, reviews, responses, and lectures. Included in the files are his doctoral dissertation, Hamlet and Fratricidal Difference: Violence of Doubles in Shakespeare, and proofs of his book on Shakespeare's sonnets, Shakespeare's Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets. Files on his articles, reviews, responses, and lectures include material such as drafts, notes, and research materials.
 

Monographs

 

Thesis: Hamlet and Fratricidal Difference: Violence of Doubles in Shakespeare

Ctn. 1, folder 1

Copy of thesis

folder 2

Copy of thesis (annotated)

folder 3

Unbound copy of Part I

 

Book: Shakespeare's Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets

Ctn. 1, folder 4- 7

Proofs

folder 8

Description of Project, and condensed version of book for publication in Representations

folder 9

Proofs of Representations version and copy of Representations

folder 10

Miscellaneous typewritten notes on sonnets

folder 11

Miscellaneous handwritten notes on sonnets

 

Articles

 

Fratricide and Cuckoldry: Shakespeare and his Sense of Difference

Ctn. 1, folder 12

Final version, copy of final version

folder 13

Two earlier copies of article under different title: "Fratricide and Frailty: A Study of Shakespearean Difference in Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Troilus and Cressida"

folder 14

Proofs (four slightly different versions)

folder 15

Preliminary Note, footnotes and references

folder 16

Miscellaneous fragments and notes

 

Gnosis and the Piety of Metaphor

Ctn. 1, folder 17

Final copy, rough draft, fragments, and notes

folder 18

Material obtained at the International Conference on Gnosticism at Yale University

folder 19

Miscellaneous handwritten notes (from Conference)

folder 20

Miscellaneous typewritten notes (from Conference)

folder 21

Essay, Composition et Structure de l'Evangile de Verité by Benoit Standaert

 

The History of the Anecdote: Fiction and Fiction

Ctn. 1, folder 22

Final drafts (3; 2 annotated)

folder 23

Preliminary drafts

folder 24

Notes and research pertaining to the Chronicle of Eusebius

Ctn. 2, folder 1

Research—articles consulted

folder 2

Miscellaneous notes

 

'The Pas de Calais': Freud, the Transference and the Sense of Woman's Humor

Ctn. 2, folder 3

Final drafts

folder 4

Earlier versions

folder 5

Proofs

folder 6

Miscellaneous notes

 

Psychoanalysis and Bisexuality

Ctn. 2, folder 7- 8

Version written in New York

folder 9

Previous version, entitled, Psychoanalysis, Bisexuality, and the Difference Before the Sexes—final draft and rough draft

folder 10

Previous version—miscellaneous draft fragments

folder 11

Miscellaneous notes and other miscellany

 

Shakespeare's Ear

Ctn. 2, folder 12

Rough drafts

folder 13

Miscellaneous notes and photocopies

 

Shakespeare's 'Will': The Temporality of Rape

Ctn. 2, folder 14

Final draft

folder 15

Rough drafts

folder 16

Early rough drafts

folder 17

Alternate beginning, entitled The Temporality of Rape

folder 18

The Temporality of Rape—discusses Chaucer's Knight's Tale

folder 19

Proofs of article and copy of Representations

folder 20

Miscellaneous typewritten notes

folder 21

Miscellaneous handwritten notes

folder 22-23

Research—articles consulted

 

The Significance of Literature: The Importance of Being Earnest

Ctn. 2, folder 24

Final drafts

folder 25

Rough drafts

folder 26

Footnotes on reader response to article; statements presented at MLA Convention on The Self in Writing

folder 27

Offprints from October

folder 28

Miscellaneous typewritten notes and draft fragments

folder 29

Miscellaneous handwritten notes

folder 30

Research—articles consulted

 

The Sound of O in Othello: The Real of the Tragedy of Desire

Ctn. 2, folder 31

Final drafts

folder 32

Drafts for conference on Shakespeare and Psychoanalysis

folder 33

Drafts for conference in New York: Jacques Lacan: Television

folder 34

Preliminary drafts

folder 35

Miscellaneous typewritten notes

folder 36

Miscellaneous handwritten notes

folder 37

Miscellany, including some reference material

 

The Structure of Allegorical Desire

Ctn. 3, folder 1

Final draft

folder 2

Copy of article as published in Allegory and Representation: Selected Papers from the English Institute, 1979- 1980

folder 3

Rough draft, with footnotes and draft fragments

folder 4

Miscellaneous notes

folder 5

Research—articles consulted

 

The Turn of the Shrew

Ctn. 3, folder 6

Final version for the book, Shakespeare and the Question of Theory

folder 7

Earlier drafts

folder 8

Miscellany

 

Reviews

Ctn. 3, folder 9

The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture—drafts, notes, and miscellany

folder 10

On Art and the Mind—copy of published review

folder 11

The Ordeal of Civility: Freud, Marx, Levi-Strauss, and the Jewish Struggle with Modernity—drafts and clippings

folder 12

Shakespeare and the Experience of Love—copy of proofs

folder 13

'To Double Business Bound': Essays on Literature, Mimesis, and Anthropology—copy of review, drafts, notes

 

Responses

Ctn. 3, folder 14

Medusa's Head: Male Hysteria under Political Pressure by Neil Hertz—final draft and earlier drafts

folder 15

Medusa's Head...—Hertz's original article, Hertz's response to Fineman's response, notes by Fineman, and miscellany

folder 16

Plato on the Triviality of Literature by Julia Annas—final draft, rough draft, and notes

 

Lectures

Ctn. 3, folder 17

The History of the Anecdote: Fiction and Fiction, given at Stanford University on October 9, 1987 and Kent State University on May 27, 1988—miscellany (published text in Carton 1, folder 22).

folder 18

"Meaning in Twelfth Night: Script and Production," given at the ACTER Shakespeare Conference in Santa Barbara on February 24, 1984—draft and miscellany

folder 19

Untitled talk dealing with the operation of proper names in Shakespeare (no date or location found)—final draft

folder 20

The Point of Freudian Gender Theory, given at Wesleyan University in Fall, 1976—final draft and earlier drafts

folder 21

The Point of Freudian Gender Theory—earliest drafts, mostly incomplete

folder 22

The Point of Freudian Gender Theory—fragments and notes

folder 23

Shakespeare's Perjur'd Eye, given at MLA Conference on December 28, 1983—draft, notes, and miscellany

folder 24

Shakespeare's 'Will': The Temporality of Rape, given at Lacan conference in Baton Rouge in July, 1986

folder 25

The Temporality of Rape, given at MLA conference in December, 1984—drafts of lecture

folder 26

Untitled lecture given at University of Illinois, Chicago conference (October 10-12, 1985) entitled, From Old Disciplines to New Practices in the Humanities—draft and position papers of conference participants

Carton 3, Folders 27-46; Carton 4, Folders 1-34

Series 3: Subject Files, [ca. 1974-1988].

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged by either title or topic, as appropriate.
This series has been divided into three subseries: Shakespeare's works, general notes on Renaissance literature, and psychoanalysis and Freud. The series contains much of Fineman's personal notes and research.
 

Shakespeare's Works

Ctn. 3, folder 27

General notes on Shakespeare and the Renaissance

folder 28

Antony and Cleopatra

folder 29

As You Like It—article by Peter B. Erickson

folder 30

Comedy of Errors—notes and article by Janet Adelman

folder 31

Coriolanus—notes and research (articles consulted)

folder 32

Cymbeline

folder 33

Hamlet—notes on Hamlet, on the Saxo Grammaticus (Danish history), and on Francois de Belleforest's The Sources of Hamlet

folder 34

Hamlet—proposal for a book on Hamlet, ca. 1978

folder 35

Hamlet—fragmentary work for a possible paper or book

folder 36

Hamlet—articles consulted

folder 37

Henry IV—notes and research (articles consulted)

folder 38

Julius Caesar—notes and 2 articles by Richard Burt

folder 39

King Lear—notes and research (articles consulted)

folder 40

Love's Labor Lost

folder 41

Measure for Measure

folder 42

Midsummer Night's Dream —notes and essay by René Girard

folder 43

Othello

folder 44

Pericles—article by Jeffrey Stern

folder 45

Richard II

folder 46

Romeo and Juliet

Ctn. 4, folder 1

The Taming of the Shrew

folder 2

The Taming of the Shrew —concordance and research (articles consulted)

folder 3

The Tempest—notes, bibliography, and article by Coppélia Kahn

folder 4

Timon of Athens—review of French production

folder 5

Titus Andronicus

folder 6

Troilus and Cressida —notes and article by John M. Kopper

folder 7

Twelfth Night—notes and article by Maurice Cheney

folder 8

Two Gentlemen of Verona

folder 9

The Two Noble Kinsman

folder 10

Venus and Adonis—notes and research (articles consulted)

folder 11

Winter's Tale—notes and research (articles consulted)

 

General Notes on Renaissance Literature

Ctn. 4, folder 12

Allegory—notes on Angus Fletcher's book Allegory

folder 13

Comedy—notes and article by Northrop Frye

folder 14

The Renaissance and Psychoanalysis

folder 15

Rhetoric—notes, bibliographies, and article by Kenneth Burke

folder 16

Romance

folder 17

Spenser, Edmund—notes and article (author unknown)

folder 18

Secondary Revision, applied to the Renaissance and Shakespeare notes and article by Edward S. Casey

 

Psychoanalysis and Freud

Ctn. 4, folder 19

General notes on psychology and psychoanalysis

folder 20

General notes on the work of S. Freud

folder 21

Anality

folder 22

Androgyny—notes, proposal for a book on androgyny, and research material

folder 23

Beyond the Pleasure Principle—notes and article by Jeffrey Barnouw

folder 24

Dora

folder 25

The Ego and the Id

folder 26

Gender—notes, clippings, and photocopies of essays by Freud

folder 27

The Interpretation of Dreams—notes and research (articles consulted)

folder 28

Late essays by Freud—notes and photocopies

folder 29

Metapsychology—notes and clippings

folder 30

Narcissism

folder 31

Ratman—photocopy of Freud's case history from the Standard Edition of Freud's writings

folder 32

Schreber—notes and article by Dr. Morton Schatzman

folder 33

Three Essays

folder 34

Wolfman

Carton 4, Folders 35-41

Series 4: Course Materials, 1978-1986.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically, and then by class title and number.
This series contains materials such as course readers, syllabi, and lecture notes relating to courses taught by Fineman while he was an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Ctn. 4, folder 35

English 172 (Winter 1978)—syllabus

folder 36

English 172 (Winter 1978)—course reader

folder 37

English 172 (Spring 1984)—course reader

folder 38

English 117S (Fall 1985)—midterm examination

folder 39

English 171 (Spring 1985)—course description, syllabus, and lecture notes

folder 40

English 250 (Spring 1985)—reading list and lecture notes

folder 41

English 117S (Fall 1986)—description of final exam and paper, lecture notes, and grade curve

Carton 4, Folders 42-45

Series 5: Personal, 1975-1986.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged by topic.
This series is comprised of files of biographical data, reviews of Fineman's book, Shakespeare's Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets, and information about two honors he received, the Guggenheim Fellowship and the James Russell Lowell Prize.
Ctn. 4, folder 42

Curriculum Vitae, Biography for Academic Personnel (with supplements), Mid-Career Review, and copy of letter of reference

folder 43

Guggenheim Fellowship—copy of application and news release

folder 44

James Russell Lowell Prize—copy of certificate and news release

folder 45

Reviews of J. Fineman's Shakespeare's Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets