In December of 2023, we held retirement celebrations for both Carol Bové and Paul Bové—each had their own event, but on the same day—and it was a fine expression of the spirit of their work and collaboration in our department for a number of years. Paul’s featured speakers—both in person and via Zoom—with whom Paul has connected, collaborated, and held intellectual partnerships with for over four decades.
A scholar characterized by his unflinching critical engagement with cultural and political issues in literary and humanistic studies, Paul earned his Ph. at SUNY Binghamton in 1975, then took a position
as assistant professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia. He was a fellow at the American Council of Learned Societies in 1979, then came to the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh in 1980 as an associate professor of English. In 1984, he became professor of English, and in 2005, distinguished professor of English. His time in our department has been marked by a number of renowned publications and by his editorship of boundary 2, a prominent journal of global literature, culture, and thought that he helmed from 1988 until 2023. As editor, he also produced two boundary 2 conferences per year, one of which was always at Pitt.
Bové developed a number of initiatives through the journal, such as boundary 2 books (of which he was general editor, 1993–2003) with Duke University Pres and b2online. The journal earned a reputation for wide-ranging and searching approaches to nearly every pressing topic in global cultures, from poetry to protests. In 2023, he won, with co-editor Tani Barlow, the Council or Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) Distinguished Editor Award for his work, a signal of the longstanding respect and prestige that both Paul and the journal have gained during his editorship.
In his own work, Paul's publication record is extensive, encompassing books, essays, and edited volumes. (And he’s still writing!) Some of his notable titles include:
•Love’s Shadow (Harvard University Press, 2021): Finalist for the Christian Gauss Award of Phi Beta Kappa
•A More Conservative Place: Intellectual Culture in the Bush Era (Dartmouth College Press, 2013)
•Poetry Against Torture: Criticism, History, and the Human (Hong Kong University Press, 2008)
•In the Wake of Theory (Wesleyan University Press, 1992)
•Mastering Discourse: The Politics of Intellectual Culture (Duke University Press, 1992)
•Intellectuals in Power: A Genealogy of Critical Humanism (Columbia University Press, 1986)
This list of book titles is far from exhaustive. His articles cover a wide array of topics, from modern American poetry to the role of intellectuals in contemporary society, and have appeared in most every prestigious medium in the humanities. They have also been translated into several languages. Paul gave hundreds of papers and presentations over the course of his career, in places ranging from Hawaii to Manitoba to Tokyo and back. And he edited or co-edited a number of collections that have shaped the course of literary studies especially at the intersections of philosophy and critical thought.
Paul’s teaching career stands out for its twin commitment to both undergraduate and graduate education. He has taught a wide range of courses, including seminars on American literature, contemporary literature, and critical theory. His courses often explored the intersections of literature, culture, and politics in deeply interdisciplinary fashions. As a faculty fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Honors College (2014–2023), Paul guided students through rigorous academic pursuits, and one of the most relished among them was his Great Books course. He also directed a number of independent studies, advised many doctoral dissertations, and led groundbreaking seminars on figures like Michel Foucault and Edward Said. Paul has himself contributed to a number of vital currents in literary studies, and his former students have expanded and reshaped that work in their own ways too.
Paul’s leadership roles at Pitt have involved organizing conferences, coordinating faculty seminars, and participating in search committees for the academic positions occupied by many colleagues. Beyond his home institution, Paul has been actively involved in professional organizations. He has served on the editorial board of Cultural Critique, the board of directors for the Society for Critical Exchange, and the executive committee of the Division for Literary Criticism of the MLA. His international engagement includes visiting professorships and research affiliations with institutions around the world. Notably, he was a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong in spring 2006 and has held concurrent positions as a distinguished adjunct professor of comparative literature at Beijing Language and Culture University and a fellow at the Universitat de València's Institute for Cultural Studies.
Paul’s presence in the Department of English will be missed, as all his colleagues and interlocutors agree. But we wish him a happy and healthy retirement, with gratitude for all he gave us in his long and storied career.
—Gayle Rogers