Susanne Kord
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Susanne Kord (aka T. S. Kord, from birth name Theresia Susanne) is a leading scholar of women's studies, literary studies and film studies, known for bringing to light unrecognized female German authors of the 18th and 19th centuries. Her first book, Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen (A Glance Backstage, 1992), was the first comprehensive historical study of eighteenth- and nineteenth century women playwrights and is widely credited with the rediscovery of many of these writers. A subsequent book, Sich einen Namen machen (Making a Name for Herself, 1996), delved into their strategies of using anonymity and pseudonyms. Both books are considered classics in the fields of German studies and women’s literature.
An award-winning cultural and literary historian, Kord has written and published 11 books, edited nine, written 70 scholarly articles published in four languages, and edited or co-edited four major academic journals.
The expansion of Kord’s research interests beyond German studies led to her publishing books in English as well as in German, including books on eighteenth-century women peasant poets in England, Scotland and Germany; murderesses in Germany; gender issues in Hollywood films (co-authored with U.S. academic Elisabeth Krimmer); the intersection of philosophy and horror films; and antisemitism in Germany and Austria before the World Wars. She has also translated the works of little-known female authors from German to English, including the naturalist playwright Elsa Bernstein and Goethe associate Charlotte von Stein.
Born in Kassel, Germany, Kord lives in London, England with her husband, the American singer/songwriter/guitarist John Landau.
Academic Career
Kord is a professor at the University College London since 2004, where she holds the oldest Chair of German in the United Kingdom. She held two tenured positions in the United States: at Georgetown University (Washington, D.C., 1993-2004), where she headed the German Department and was appointed George M. Roth Distinguished Professor; and at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio, 1990-93). She was visiting lecturer at Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire, United States, 1988-1990.)
Kord earned an M.A. degree in English and American literature at Philipps Universität Marburg (Germany), and an M.A. and PhD in German literature (1990) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States).
Alternate Authorial Names
Kord, who has written extensively on women’s anonymity and pseudonyms, has occasionally employed a gender-concealing alias. Her books Little Horrors (2016) and Lovable Crooks (2018) were published under the gender-neutral author name T. S. Kord, leading some reviewers of both works to assume she was male[1].
Promoting Accessible Scholarship
Kord is known as a “stylistic democrat” (the phrase was coined in a review of her first book, Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen) for a writing style which makes her work accessible to readers without scholarly backgrounds. The writing style has put her at odds with a convention which holds that “academic communication is fundamentally different from everyday vernacular discourse;”[2] that serious scholarship, particularly theoretical work, must express itself in complex language; and that a refusal to do so results in “reductive” [that is, simplified] work. In the preface to her book Little Horrors, Kord described her approach thusly:
“Footnoting is limited to the absolutely necessary, scholarly jargon avoided at all costs and the story told in as simple and straightforward a manner as is possible for an (usually) academic writer.
All this raised some scholarly eyebrows before the book was even published. One editor at a renowned press told me that if I wanted to publish it with them I needed ‘to bring the book together into a more academic style.’ An academic reader for a different but no less renowned publisher considered the book well written, ‘consistent,’ ‘lively and engaging,’ but then added: ‘If the style is aimed at a popular readership, it will grate on an academic one.’ I would like to thank all colleagues for their comments, whether enthusiastic or critical. [...] But they failed to convince me that a good idea is worth less because it's expressed clearly (or, as one reviewer put it, ‘untheorised’), and I've never been a fan of the academic credo that if a book is comprehensible to more than three people, the author must have sold out.”[3]
Kord’s straightforward writing style is noted regularly in reviews.
Awards and Honors
Election to National Professional Societies
Elected Fellow of the British Academy, 2021
Elected Fellow of the British Royal Historical Society, 2015
Elected Honorary Secretary and Council Member of the English Goethe Society, 2008
Visiting Fellowships
Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford, All Soul’s College, 2014
Visiting fellow, University of Oxford, St. John’s College, 2009
Visiting Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, 1999-2000
Writing Awards
Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award, for Contemporary Hollywood Masculinities: Gender, Genre, and Politics, co-authored with Elisabeth Krimmer, 2012
Forum Prize, Best Article of the Year, for “The Rule of Law and the Role of Literature: German Public Debates on Husband Killers and Human Rights,” Forum for Modern Language Studies, January 2012
Book of the Month-Award, Georg Olms Publishing House, March 1998, for Charlotte von Stein’s Dramen, 1998
Robert L. Kahn Lyrik-Preis, Society for Contemporary American Literature in German, for poem ‘grammatik’ (Trans-Lit, 1994)
Best Book of the Year Award, Swiss National Radio, 1993, for Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen, 1992
Literary Translations, (Dramatic Plays, German to English)
Dämmerung (1893) by Elsa Bernstein, published as Twilight, Modern Language Association of America, 2003
Maria Arndt (1908), by Elsa Bernstein, performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, March 2002; anthology Modern Drama by Women, by Katherine Kelly, Routledge, 1996
Charlotte von Stein’s Rino (1776), anthology Thalia’s Daughters, by Susan Cocalis and Ferrel Rose, Francke, 1996
Poetry
The themes of Kord’s published poetry draw on her professional research on the challenges faced by female authors, as well as on the poverty she observed in Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. neighborhoods. Kord published poetry in English and German, holding public readings at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Reception/Reviews
12 Monkeys (2019)
“…one of the most admirable aspects of this book is Kord’s clear, engaging writing. This book is not only insightful but also a pleasure simply to read for the vividness and elegance of its prose. Kord is adept at communicating complex scholarly ideas in understandable language. That she can say so much of value in a mere hundred pages is impressive. This book makes an important contribution to Gilliam scholarship and should be read by anyone interested in the study of his films, but it is also eminently readable by a general audience.”[4]
Lovable Crooks (2018)
“This is the most illuminating interpretation of the critical forces that shaped the Holocaust written in the last fifty years. A stunning, scary, and fabulous book.” (Michael Berkowitz, comment on back cover, 2016)
“This is a book of astonishing breadth and research, and Kord has presented scholars of crime fiction, criminality, antisemitism, totalitarianism, and language with a remarkable tool to assess the cultural shift toward genocidal fascism. She offers the reader often obscure texts that would be difficult to find without her and opens up a range of important questions for the field.”[5]
Little Horrors (2016)
“Unlike other in-depth studies of horror film, Kord won me over by page two. She says, ‘I’ve never been a fan of the academic credo that if a book is comprehensible to more than three people, the author must have sold out.’ What a breath of fresh air.”[6]
“I was amazed at some of the information laid out here […]. Kord does an exceptional job […] Reading through this book gave me plenty of titles that made me want to re-visit, as well as some that I had passed up before, but now feel the need to see. To me, that is a sign of a great writer.”[7]
Contemporary Hollywood Masculinities (co-authored with Elisabeth Krimmer, 2011)
“Highly recommended.”[8]
Murderesses in German Writing (2009)
“This smart and original book uses readings of many different kinds of texts to shed light on conceptions of gender in the German transition to modernity. […] Kord's vivid writing style enhances the book's appeal […] a notable exploration of the revealing underside of modern European culture.”[9]
“Murderesses in German Writing is a fascinating study that expands our growing understanding of gender codes[…] Theoretically astute and exceptionally well researched, the book stands as a model for further exploration of women and crime in eighteenth- and nineteenth century European culture.”[10]
Women Peasant Poets (2003)
“Susanne Kord’s new book […] Women Peasant Poets breaks new ground by comparing the literary careers of English laboring-class poets with their peers in Scotland and Germany […] Kord makes a strong case for the importance of these writers to the history of bourgeois aesthetics as well as literary history.”[11]
Elsa Bernstein, Dämmerung / Twilight, ed. and trans. Susanne Kord (2003)
“The translation is accurate, idiomatic, dramatic. A most impressive feat.” (Steven R. Cerf, comment on back cover, 2003)
References
- ↑ Tiburcio Moreno, Erika (2018). "Review of 'Little Horrors'". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television (1): 213-15.
- ↑ Graff, Gerald (2000). "Scholars and Sound Bites: The Myth of Academic Difficulty". PMLA. 115 (5): 1041-52.
- ↑ Kord, Susanne (2016). Little Horrors: How Cinema's Evil Children Play on Our Guilt. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 2.
- ↑ Grace, Dominick (2021). "Review of '12 Monkeys'". SFRA Review (Fall).
- ↑ Hanley Cardozo, Kristen (2020). "Review of 'Lovable Crooks'". Crime Fiction Studies (August).
- ↑ Schmitt, Gavin. "Review of 'Little Horrors'" (PDF). Killer Reviews.
- ↑ Kitley, John. "Review of 'Little Horrors'" (PDF). Kitley's Krypt. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ↑ Butler, G. R. (2012). "Review of 'Contemporary Hollywood Masculinities'". Choice. 49 (12).
- ↑ Wiltenburg, Joy (2011). "Witches, Vampires, and the Like". Humanities and Social Sciences Net (March).
- ↑ Spokiene, Diane (2012). "Review of 'Murderesses in German Writing'". The German Quarterly. 85 (4): 479-80.
- ↑ Landry, Donna (2005). "Review: 'But Were They Any Good?'". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 38 (3): 535-38.
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