Matthew Potolsky

Matthew Potolsky is Professor of English at the University of Utah, specializing in nineteenth-century literature and literary theory. His career spans from 1998 Lecturer at Harvard University to current University Professorship. He earned a BA in Comparative Literature and Philosophy (1990), followed by MA and PhD in Comparative Literature (1992, 1997) from UC Irvine.

• Chair of English Department (2013-2016)
• University Professor (2014-2016)

Research focuses on Decadence, Mimesis, Finance-Aesthetics intersections, and Government Secrecy. His work traces connections between financialization and decadent aesthetics, revealing how economic cycles influence artistic production. Key themes include:

• Decadent anti-realist literary movements
• Finance capital's cultural impactDecadent counterpublic formations
• Victorian aesthetic education debates
• Sublime aesthetics in national security
• Cosmopolitanism in literary communities

Recent publications analyze:

• Decadent style as financialization rhetoric
• Reintroduction of verisimilitude theory
• Decadent responses to financial crises
• Mimetic labor in artistic production
• Decadent cosmopolitan counterpublics
• Historical parallels between financialization and literary decadence