Lee Edelman

Lee Edelman (born 1953) is an American literary critic and academic. He is a professor of English at Tufts University. He is the author of several books.

Early life Lee Edelman was born in 1953. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University, and he received an MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. His third book, No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, is a post-Lacanian analysis of queer theory. He co-wrote Sex, or the Unbearable with Lauren Berlant.

Edelman's work has been contentious in queer theory, with José Esteban Muñoz's Cruising Utopia polemicizing against his "queer negativity." A 2005 Modern Language Association conference held a special symposium on the subject, with participants Robert L. Caserio, Lee Edelman, Jack Halberstam, José Esteban Muñoz, and Tim Dean debating the utility of the critique of reproductive futurism.

He was the co-founding editor of Duke University Press's Theory Q series in 2014, and remains a series editor.

Personal life Edelman is married to critic and English professor Joseph Litvak.