Morton N. Cohen

Morton Norton Cohen (born 27 February 1921^[1]) is an American author and scholar, and Professor Emeritus of the City University of New York, best known for his extensive studies of children's author Lewis Carroll, including his 1995 biography Lewis Carroll: A Biography.^[2][3][4]

Cohen was born in Calgary, Canada, and grew on the North Shore of Boston. He has taught English at West Virginia University, Syracuse University, Rutgers University and the City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Among his dedicated work on Charles Dodgson, he has also produced studies on Henry Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and other Victorian subjects, as well as children's literature, travel articles and fiction. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Literature in 1996.^[1] The Modern Language Association set up the biennially Morton N. Cohen Award for a Distinguished Edition of Letters in his name in 1989. The first award was given in 1991.^[5] Under the terms of the award, the "winning collection will be one that provides readers with a clear, accurate, and readable text; necessary background information; and succinct and eloquent introductory material and annotations. The edited collection should be in itself a work of literature."^[6][7]

Cohen is a prominent and vocal opponent of the "Carroll Myth", the idea advanced by some scholars that Carroll was not, as is popularly thought, a paedophile. Karoline Leach in In the Shadow of the Dreamchild (1999) wrote that Cohen and previous biographers misunderstood the norms and customs of the Victorian era, and that Carroll's adulation of children was not sexual but a reflection of the romanticisation of the child prevalent in that era. Contrariwise, a website setup by opponents of the tradition Carroll image, writes that he "was honest enough to see that the received image of 'Carroll' was indeed pedophilic, and to say so more bluntly than was comfortable to many", but notes "Inexplicably he lists the numbers of intimate woman-friends that Dodgson had through his life, yet still concludes that his existence revolved exclusively around friendships with small girls!"^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Prof Morton N Cohen, FRSL". Debrett's. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
2. ^ Bartlett, Rebecca Ann (1998). Choice's Outstanding Academic Books 1992–1997: Reviews of Scholarly Titles That Every Library Should Own .Association of College and Research Libraries (American Library Association). p. 128. ISBN-10: 0838979297
3. ^ Burt, Daniel S. (2001). The Biography Book: A Reader's Guide To Nonfiction, Fictional, and Film Biographies of More Than 500 of the Most Fascinating Individuals of all Time. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 61. ISBN-10: 1573562564
4. ^ Edinger, Monica (2001). Using Beloved Classics to Deepen Reading Comprehension: Rich Lessons and Literature Response Activities That Improve Kids' Reading Comprehension, Build Writing Skills, and Really Engage Each and Every Reader. Scholastic Inc. p. 138. ISBN-10: 0439278600
5. ^ "Morton N. Cohen Award for a Distinguished Edition of Letters". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
6. ^ "Morton N. Cohen Award for a Distinguished Edition of Letters". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
7. ^ "Prizes and awards made to the Darwin Correspondence Project and its founding editor". darwinproject.ac.uk (Darwin Correspondence Project). Retrieved 9 September 2010.
8. ^ Lewis Carroll, a Biography – 1995 . carrollmyth.com/cohen.html. (Contrariwise). Retrieved 9 September 2010.

Further reading

• Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Centennial Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer, New York: Aperture, 1998. Print.
• Cohen, Morton N. Lewis Carroll: A Biography, London: Macmillan, 1995. Print.
• Cohen, Morton N., ed. Lewis Carroll: Interviews and Recollections, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1989. Print.
• Cohen, Morton N., and Anita Gandolfo, eds. Lewis Carroll and the House of Macmillan, Cambridge, London, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Print.

Persondata
Name	Cohen, Morton N.
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Date of birth	27 February 1921
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