Eric G. Wilson
Thomas H. Pritchard Professor of English
Wilson is a leading expert in the relationships between literature and psychology.
Biography
As a leading expert in the relationships between literature and psychology, Eric G. Wilson embraces what many fear: melancholy, mental illness, and controversy. A distinguished Romantic scholar and best-selling author, Wilson chronicles his struggle and ultimate embrace of bipolar disorder in the wake of his daughter’s birth, challenges America’s obsessions with superficial happiness, and explores… Read More »
As a leading expert in the relationships between literature and psychology, Eric G. Wilson embraces what many fear: melancholy, mental illness, and controversy. A distinguished Romantic scholar and best-selling author, Wilson chronicles his struggle and ultimate embrace of bipolar disorder in the wake of his daughter’s birth, challenges America’s obsessions with superficial happiness, and explores William Blake’s vision of creativity and the practices it implies.
Well-versed on subjects ranging from film and religion to humanism and technology, Wilson has appeared on NBC’s Today show, NPR and BBC, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Los Angeles Times. “Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck” – which explores the many forms of morbid curiosity and argues that macabre fascination is essential for a good life — was released in the spring of 2012. He is currently blogging on the topic for Psychology Today.
His most recent release, “Keeping it Fake,” Wilson draws on the science, philosophy and social pressures that shape our inauthentic lives arguing that people regularly create less-than-authentic identities, whether it is through Facebook profiles, plastic surgeries, or tuning into a news channel that simply verifies our opinions.
Media Appearances
When death is a fascination
The Atlantic
August 13, 2015
Doctors handle the gore, morticians prettify bodies. Eric Wilson argues that death is not something we regularly encounter anymore, adding an extra layer of mystery and intrigue. In his book, Wilson quotes French historian Philippe Aries: “When death arrives, it is regarded as an accident, a sign of hopelessness and clumsiness that must be put out of mind.” Over the phone, Wilson explains that he was drawn to writing about why it’s so hard for us to look away from gore because he, himself, felt an attraction to it. “I’ve had an abiding interest in the melancholy,” he says. “I wanted to understand the complexity of that.”
Articles
The Gift of Financial Insecurity. Chronicle of Higher Education
n 1864, when Americans were enduring the daily miseries of the Civil War, Emily Dickinson, perhaps with the nationwide crisis in mind, wrote" A nearness to Tremendousness--/An Agony procures." The author suggests that perhaps Dickinson's poetry may be applied to
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More Information
Areas of Expertise
- American Culture and Mental Health
- Film and Religion
- Humanism and Technology
- Literature and Psychology
- The Gothic
- Transatlantic Romanticism
- Western Esoteric Traditions
Education
City University of New York, Graduate Center: Ph.D., English Literature
Wake Forest University: M.A., English Literature
Appalachian State University: B.A., English Literature
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