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Toril Moi, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Literature

Toril Moi

Toril Moi has three broad areas of interest: feminist theory and women's writing; the intersection of literature, philosophy and aesthetics; and ordinary language philosophy in the tradition of Wittgenstein, Cavell and Austin.

Toril Moi also works on theater. In her work on literature and theater she is particularly interested in the emergence of modernism in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Her books include Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory (1985; 2nd edition 2002), Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman (1994; second edition with a major new introduction 2008); and What Is a Woman? And Other Essays (1999), republished in a shorter version as Sex, Gender and the Body (2005). She is the editor of The Kristeva Reader (1986), and of French Feminst Thought (1987).

In 2006, Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism: Art, Theater, Philosphy, was published in English by Oxford University Press and in Norwegian by Pax Forlag (Oslo). The book won the MLA's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for the best book in Comparative Literary Studies in 2007. It is now available in paperback.

Toril Moi now works on three projects: (1) The Emergence of European Modernism 1870-1914; (2) Femisist Theory and Women Writers; and (3) "Pictures of Language": on the vision of language in ordinary language philosophy. She also continues to work on Henrik Ibsen's plays.

Toril Moi enjoys working with students at all levels. She won Duke's Univeristy Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 1998, and the Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring of Graduate Students in 2008.

In her native Norway, Toril Moi writes a regular column for the cultural newspaper Morgenbladet.

Contact Info:
Office Location:  1316 Campus Drive, 108 Friedl Building, Durham, NC 27708-0403
Office Phone:  +1 919 684 4127
Email Address: send me a message
Web Pages:  http://www.torilmoi.com
http://oscarandassociates.com/

Teaching (Fall 2024):

  • LIT 460S.01, WEIL, BEAUVOIR, MURDOCH Synopsis
    Friedl Bdg 102, MW 11:45 AM-01:00 PM
    (also cross-listed as ENGLISH 460S.01, GSF 460S.01, PHIL 460S.01)
  • LIT 681S.01, WITTGENSTEIN AND LIT THEORY Synopsis
    Friedl Bdg 102, M 01:25 PM-03:55 PM
    (also cross-listed as ENGLISH 582S.01, PHIL 681S.01)
Office Hours:

Fall 2023 Semester:

Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Email toril@duke.edu first to make an appointment.


Education:

Dr. Art.University of Bergen (Norway)1985
Mag. art.University of Bergen (Norway)1980
Specialties:

French
European Studies
Gender Studies, Feminism, Women Studies, Queer Studies
Modernity and Modernism
Modern and Contemporary
Critical Theory, Philosophy
Comparative Studies: Translation, Travel Narratives, Trans-Culturality
Research Interests: Feminism, Modernism, Philosophy & Literature, and 19th & 20th Century European Literature

Current projects: The Emergence of European Modernism 1870-1914, Feminist Theory and Women Writers

Toril Moi has three broad areas of interest: feminist theory and women's writing; the intersection of literature, philosophy and aesthetics; and ordinary language philosophy in the tradition of Wittgenstein, Cavell and Austin.

Toril Moi also works on theather. In her work on literature and theater she is particularly interested in the emergence of modernism in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Her books include Sesual/Testual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory (1985; 2nd edition 2002), Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman (1994; second edition with a major new introduction 2008); and What Is a Woman? And Other Essays (1999), republished in a shorter version as Sex, Gender and the Body (2005). She is the editor of The Kristeva Reader (1986), and of French Feminst Thought (1987).

In 2006, Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism: Art, Theater, Philosphy, was published in English by Oxford University Press and in Norwegian by Pax Forlag (Oslo). The book won the MLA's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for the best book in Comparative Literary Studies in 2007. It is now available in paperback.

Toril Moi now works on three projects: (1) The Emergence of European Modernism 1870-1914; (2) Femisist Theory and Women Writers; and (3) "Pictures of Language": on the vision of language in ordinary language philosophy. She also continues to work on Henrik Ibsen's plays.

Toril Moi enjoys working with students at all levels. She won Duke's Univeristy Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 1998, and the Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring of Graduate Students in 2008.

In her native Norway, Toril Moi writes a regular column for the financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.

Areas of Interest:

Feminism
Modernism
Simone de Beauvoir
Henrik Ibsen
Existentialism
Modernism
Ordinary Language Philosophy

Keywords:

aesthetics • existentialism • feminism • Feminist theory • literature • Literature • modernism • modernism (literature) • Modernism (literature) • ordinary language philosophy • Philosophy • theater • Theater • women

Curriculum Vitae
Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Moi, T, Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism: Art, Theater, Philosophy (2006), pp. xvi + 396 pages, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199202591
  2. Moi, T, Sex, Gender and the Body: The Student Edition of What Is a Woman? (2005), pp. xv + 274 pages, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199276226 (Contains the first two essays in What Is a Woman? and a new preface..)

Picture credit: Oscar Einzig Photography.


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