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Toril Moi

James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Literature
Literature
Box 90670, 108 Friedl Building, East Campus, Durham, NC 27708-0403
1316 Campus Drive, 108 Friedl Building, Durham, NC 27708-0403

Overview


Toril Moi has three broad areas of interest: feminist theory and women's writing; the intersection of literature, philosophy and aesthetics; and ordinary language philosophy in the tradition of Wittgenstein, Cavell and Austin.

Toril Moi also works on theater. In her work on literature and theater she is particularly interested in the emergence of modernism in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Her books include Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory (1985; 2nd edition 2002), Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman (1994; second edition with a major new introduction 2008); and What Is a Woman? And Other Essays (1999), republished in a shorter version as Sex, Gender and the Body (2005). She is the editor of The Kristeva Reader (1986), and of French Feminst Thought (1987).

In 2006, Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism: Art, Theater, Philosphy, was published in English by Oxford University Press and in Norwegian by Pax Forlag (Oslo). The book won the MLA's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for the best book in Comparative Literary Studies in 2007. It is now available in paperback.

Toril Moi now works on three projects: (1) The Emergence of European Modernism 1870-1914; (2) Femisist Theory and Women Writers; and (3) "Pictures of Language": on the vision of language in ordinary language philosophy. She also continues to work on Henrik Ibsen's plays.

Toril Moi enjoys working with students at all levels. She won Duke's Univeristy Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 1998, and the Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring of Graduate Students in 2008.

In her native Norway, Toril Moi writes a regular column for the cultural newspaper Morgenbladet.

Office Hours


Fall 2023 Semester:

Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Email toril@duke.edu first to make an appointment.


Current Appointments & Affiliations


James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Literature · 1999 - Present Literature, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Literature · 1991 - Present Literature, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of English · 2007 - Present English, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Romance Studies · 1995 - Present Romance Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Philosophy · 2010 - Present Philosophy, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies · 2021 - Present Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Education, Training & Certifications


University of Bergen (Norway) · 1985 Dr. Art.
University of Bergen (Norway) · 1980 Mag. art.