Add a Memory
Send Flowers
Make a Donation
Ihab Hassan Obituary
IHAB HASSAN, "The Father of Postmodernism" dies at 89 in Milwaukee, WI.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Ihab Hassan followed the path that many bright young Egyptians took in the first half of this century: he came to the United States and trained to become an engineer and in 1948 he earned his MS in that field at the University of Pennsylvania. Yet he continued on at Penn, changing his field to something that spoke to him more deeply than did engineering. He studied literature, and earned two degrees in English--an MA in 1950 and a PhD in 1953.
After a brief period teaching at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hassan moved to Wesleyan University, where he taught from 1954-1970. Since 1970, he has been the Vilas Research Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee till his retirement in 1999. He wrote 15 books and more than 300 articles on literature and culture.
In the mid- to late 1960s, a dramatic shift occurred in the way people began talking and writing about literature, but there really was no name for it. Ihab Hassan named it postmodernism - a change from modernist writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to literature characterized by different narrative techniques used by Thomas Pynchon and Toni Morrison - and the term stuck.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee English professor published a paper in 1971 that outlined the development of modernism and postmodernism literature with a now-famous chart. "It was a map that people used when grappling with how to categorize modernism and postmodernism. It's still useful. I taught it in my undergraduate theory survey," said Jason Puskar, associate professor of English at UWM.
He "is arguably the most famous professor in the history of UWM," said Dave Clark, associate dean of humanities. "Now this is coming from the humanities dean, of course. But he's an incredibly well-known international figure, widely credited with coining the current contemporary use of the term postmodernism."
Donations in ongoing support of the work of Ihab Hassan may be made through www.IhabHassanTrust.org or mailed to: P.O. Box 242236, Milwaukee, WI 53224
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Peter Beilharz
October 20, 2015
Thanks for this very sad news. Ihab touched our lives; genial , witty , smart , amiable , counterintuitive. I am honoured to have known him and to have been instructed by him; my heart goes out to those who were closer to him .
I will be in touch again later , to see if there is something we can do through the journal Thesis Eleven by way of honouring his memory. With respect and affection.
Professor Peter Beilharz
Emeritus Professor
La Trobe University
Bundoora Victoria 3086
Editors of Flash Short Story Magazine
October 19, 2015
We're so sorry to hear of Ihab's passing and send you our deepest-felt condolences. In 2012, he submitted for consideration his brilliant short-short story The Wound', which we published in the October issue of Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazines. Little did Ihab know that we were already fans of his writing: his The Literature of Silence informed our understanding of Beckett when we were undergraduates.
We've subsequently published Ihab in other issues of the magazine and recently had a submission by him for a book we're planning, Funny Bone, an anthology of flashes to be sold in aid of the charity Comic Relief. We look forward to publishing yet another brilliant very short story by Ihab.
With our very best wishes,
Drs Ashley Chantler and Peter Blair
Editors, Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine
University of Chester, UK
University Archivist
October 19, 2015
Dear Geoffrey and Sally,
We here at UC Irvine were sorry to hear the news of your father and husband's passing. Professor Hassan's papers are a treasured part of the Critical Theory Archive and we were honored to have received additional materials directly from him as recently as June 2015.
Professor Hassan's work was featured in our recent exhibit on the history and impact of critical theory, as well as a conference held by the School of Humanities on the future of critical theory. His influence as a scholar has been celebrated here at Irvine and certainly in the international academic community.
Please accept our heartfelt condolences and know that Professor Hassan's legacy continues here and will be accessible for future generations of scholars in the Critical Theory Archive. The Ihab Hassan Papers are described in the Online Archive of California and are open for research. A permanent link to the collection description is available at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf296nb11c/; please feel free to share with friends and family. I hope to have the privilege of showing you the collection in person someday.
University of California, Irvine Libraries
Alfred Hornung
October 18, 2015
I just attended a conference in Connecticut, not far from Wesleyan University in Middletown, where I first met your father and husband in 1970 as a student. I actually relived in memory on this occasion the good times I had at Wesleyan and the course I took on Contemporary American Literature by the famous professor Ihab Hassan. And I remembered how difficult it was to be admitted to his course. I think he made an exception for me as a foreign student. I was looking forward to talking to him tomorrow on his 90th birthday. The sad news you sent us tells me that I am too late and that I lost a great teacher, an excellent critic and a very good friend of many years. I would like to send you both my sincere condolences on Ihab's death. It is hard to believe that such a vigorous man and restlessly active mind has passed away. I hope that you will be able to cope with this great loss. We as your friends can only express our great gratitude to Ihab's generosity, admirable hospitality and unending friendship in perfect union with you Sally over all those years. One of the many remarkable books that Ihab wrote was The Literature of Silence, it refers to works which are more expressive in their absence of words than exuberant prose. Ihab's unfortunate silence likewise will continue to be our inspiration.
Beate and Alexander join me in sending you our sincere condolences,
Alfred
Prof. Dr. Alfred Hornung
Chair, American Studies
Department of English & Linguistics
Johannes Gutenberg University
How you can show support
Donate in Memory
Make a donation in memory of your loved one.
Add photos
Share their life with photo memories.
Plant trees
Honor them by planting trees in their memory.
Follow this page
Get email updates whenever changes are made.
Send flowers
Consider sending flowers.
Share this page
Invite other friends and family to visit the page.
Klaus Stierstorfer
October 18, 2015
I am heartbroken by this news. Ihab has and this is a great privilege with which I flatter myself become a dear friend over the years. His scholarly contributions to our conference in Muenster have been outstanding and will last in its published form. The Festschrift I had the pleasure to edit for him has shown, once again, the massive impact he has had on Western Thought and Scholarship. Ihab has been one of those colleagues and friends who have made life so much richer. The loss is irreplaceable and we in Muenster will certainly have to learn to live with this gap left by Ihab. We will treasure the memory of the visits we have had of you, Sally, and Ihab.
If you can, do stay in touch.
With the deepest sympathy
Klaus
Prof. Dr. Klaus Stierstorfer
Chair of British Studies
Englisches Seminar
Johannisstr. 12-20
D-48143 Münster
Germany
Charles Greene
October 18, 2015
We are so so sorry to hear this news. Sally, please, our deepest and most genuine condolences. We so clearly and vividly remember fondly all of our encounters and dinners with Ihab and you. And as recently as 2011 it was such a pure delight to visit you both in Milwaukee during the winter, to speak at UWisconsin. And the talks he gave at my university here in Melbourne.
Ihab was deeply, deeply generous and his friends in Australia loved him dearly for the fiercely intelligent, curious, deeply insightful interventions he made in our lives, oddly enough late in his own extraordinarily rich life.
We will always miss him. I don't so much think of him in connection with postmodernism as much as an exemplar of deep and profound cosmopolitanism.
With love from Lyndell and me.Charles Green
Xiangyu Liu
October 14, 2015
Hi, Ihab, could you still hear me? Still remember me, a Fulbright scholar from Beijing Normal University, who came to you, in Feb. 1992 for the help of the completion of his translation of your Postmodern Turn? I am sad that you are gone at this juncture, when you might have seen the appearance of the new revised translation of your book, but, unfortunately you could not. Over 20 years passed since you and Sally received me at your Milwaukee lakeside house, and unforgettable scenes you talked to me on Postmodernism and other topics, your seminars I attended at your house, etc. are looming larger now like yesterday. The first Chinese edition of your book published at Taipei 20 years ago was a great help to Chinese scholars and readers who would know something about postmodern literature and culture, and its new Shanghai Wenjing edition is no doubt a proof that your book is still needed today by Chinese academic fields and common readers. I am fully confident that readers must go back to your book if they want to know the whatness and whenceness of Postmodernism. With this confidence, I pray your soul rest peacefully and happily in paradise, and my condolences go to your loved wife and son. Xiangyu Liu, Beijing Normal Univ.
Showing 1 - 7 of 7 results
Make a Donation
in Ihab Hassan's name
How to support Ihab's loved ones
Honor a beloved veteran with a special tribute of ‘Taps’ at the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The nightly ceremony in Washington, D.C. will be dedicated in honor of your loved one on the day of your choosing.
Read more
Should I Send Sympathy Flowers?
What kind of arrangement is appropriate, where should you send it, and when should you send an alternative?
Read more
What Should I Write in a Sympathy Card?
We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time.
Read moreResources to help you cope with loss
Estate Settlement Guide
If you’re in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist.
Read more
Obituaries, grief & privacy: Legacy’s news editor on NPR podcast
Legacy's Linnea Crowther discusses how families talk about causes of death in the obituaries they write.
Read more
The Five Stages of Grief
They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel.
Read moreWays to honor Ihab Hassan's life and legacy
Obituary Examples
You may find these well-written obituary examples helpful as you write about your own family.
Read more
Obituary Templates – Customizable Examples and Samples
These free blank templates make writing an obituary faster and easier.
Read more
How Do I Write a Eulogy?
Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love.
Read more
