William M. Burton is an assistant professor in the Department of French. Professor Burton's research examines how 'literary' authors position their work with regard to other disciplines and domains in the 18th and 20th centuries. These authors are concerned with imaginative writing's political potential and its capacity to produce knowledge. In their often formally daring, genre-defying texts, they both adopt and contest philosophical, political and scientific concepts to articulate their views on what we now call 'literature'. Professor Burton's current project, The End of Sex, approaches this topic through a case-study of Monique Wittig and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They are also interested in Quebec and translation studies.
Professor Burton received a B.A. in French literature and translation from McGill University; an M.A. in English studies from the Université de Montréal; and an M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. in French and Romance philology from Columbia University. Their teaching areas include 20th-century (especially postwar) literature; literature and science; and gender, sexuality, and feminism (particularly lesbianism, gender non-binarity, and trans identities).
