15 Questions with Matthew B. Kaiser

Matthew B. Kaiser, assistant professor of English, is known for his sky-high CUE ratings, impeccable style and profound lectures. This semester, Kaiser’s English 156: “Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture,” drew in an impressive 454 students, according to the Registrar’s current course enrollment numbers. Don’t worry, though, the Add/Drop deadline isn’t for a few weeks yet.



1.

Fifteen Minutes (FM): The courses you teach at Harvard (English 90ow. “Oscar Wilde: Arts, Martyr, Celebrity”; English 154: “Literature and Sexuality”; English 156: “Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture) all address issues of sex and sexuality in Western culture. What led you to investigate these concepts in your academic work?

Matthew B. Kaiser (MBK): To be fair, these courses are not about sex per se. They are about sexuality, which is the intellectual and political act of experiencing one’s identity through the logic of sex. What I try to do in my courses is to try to avoid idealizing sex and fearing sex.



2.

FM: What does your mother think?

MBK: If she were a student I think she’d be the first person to study these courses. In fact, students invite their parents to my lectures all the time. I think it’s my job to give people the intellectual tools to speak comfortably about uncomfortable things. When I see parents in the audience, I see that their kids are feeling comfortable. That makes me feel like I’ve done something well.



3.

FM: Why do you think sex and sexuality were taboo topics in Western culture?

MBK: Essentially, it has to do with the fact that sex has become the core of the self and making people self conscious about the core of themselves is a means of control. There was a time in history where the soul was the core of the self, and taboos around religious issues were just as touchy as issues of sex are for us.



4.

FM: Do you still think these topics are taboo in America? In American universities?

MBK: No, not really. However, I would say that at most American universities, there are a lot more courses on sex, gender and sexuality than there are at Harvard. Harvard is surprising in offering so few courses on this topic.



5.

FM: Your interests lie in the area of nineteenth-century British literature and culture. Be honest—were we dirtier then or now?

MBK: We would be shocked by each other. From a Victorian middle class perspective, twenty-first century women look like mannish prostitutes and men would appear vulgar and wimpy. On the other hand, we would be pretty shocked and disturbed by the amount of sexual violence and coercion that was a fact in the nineteenth century. We’d feel like prudes in each other’s company.



6.

FM: Which is steamier: Penthouse or Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s “Venus in Furs?”

MBK: Penthouse. It’s not steamy to me...but “Venus in Furs” is not a steamy novel at all. Von Sacher-Masoch has a particular brand of eroticism that is particularly cold and disembodied. His eroticism is more like an ice cube than steam.



7.

FM: Complete this sentence: Sex at Harvard...

MK: (Laughs) That’s one sentence that is left incomplete.



8.

FM: Word on the street is that you are a pretty snappy dresser. Say you’re having a one-on-one meeting with President Drew G. Faust. What would you wear?

MK: I would wear a dark blue suit, a vibrant tie and French cuffs.



9.

FM: And what would you say?

MK: I wouldn’t say anything, because what she’s experiencing right now is more profound and compelling than what I’m experiencing. I would sit and listen to what she had to tell me, and then I’d ask for a raise.



10.

FM: Now say you’re having a one-on-one meeting with Oscar Wilde. You know, theoretically. Would you be wearing the same ensemble?

MK: I would probably wear a slightly tighter version.



11.

FM: And what would you say?

MK: Again, Oscar Wilde was such an amazing speaker. I think I would just listen to him. I wouldn’t ask him for a raise, though.



12.

FM: This year, you’re teaching “Crime and Horror” in Sanders Theater. How does it feel to be lecturing in that hallowed academic space to 454 students?

MK: Exciting and inspiring. The room is beautiful and makes what you’re saying feel weighty. The one drawback to Sanders is that it’s very formal and some of the students are very far away, and I can’t see their faces, so that’s a little odd.



13.

FM: Your CUE ratings have describe you as “funny,” “knowledgeable,” “excellent,” and “enthusiastic.” What words would you use to describe your students?

MK: Brave, interesting and very smart.



14.

FM: In your article, “A History of Ludicrous”, you explore the history of the word “ludicrous.” Say something ludicrous.

MK: Unfortunately, my taste for the ludicrous has been destroyed by my academic study of it.



15.

FM: Do you think this interview is ludicrous? We hope not.

MK: (Laughs) Well it’s definitely ludicrous in the original sense of the word, which means playful. I will have to wait to see when it comes out in print to see if it’s ludicrous in the current sense of the word.