{"id":2250,"date":"2017-10-11T18:01:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T01:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/?page_id=2250"},"modified":"2025-07-07T04:05:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:05:29","slug":"sacks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/people\/faculty\/sacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty: Jeff Sacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-34g6re-4e8087f2f190715385ae3e5a2986b87a\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-34g6re-4e8087f2f190715385ae3e5a2986b87a{\npadding-bottom:10px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-34g6re-4e8087f2f190715385ae3e5a2986b87a .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-34g6re-4e8087f2f190715385ae3e5a2986b87a .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-34g6re-4e8087f2f190715385ae3e5a2986b87a av-special-heading-h2  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_one_third  avia-builder-el-first '><h2 class='av-special-heading-tag'  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Faculty<\/h2><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-baaw3e-10aa414b883358f2ec4c2333b7784851\">\n.flex_column.av-baaw3e-10aa414b883358f2ec4c2333b7784851{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-baaw3e-10aa414b883358f2ec4c2333b7784851 av_one_third  avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_heading  el_before_av_two_third  first flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  '     ><p><section  class='avia-team-member av-8g6mey-bc2e31356064a2824c8ba8d146b66fb1  avia-builder-el-2  el_before_av_image  avia-builder-el-first '  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Person\" ><div class=\"team-img-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-2251 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-2251 avia_image avia_image_team' src=\"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/sacks.png\" alt='Jeff Sacks'  itemprop=\"image\"   height=\"285\" width=\"165\" \/><\/div><h3 class='team-member-name '  itemprop=\"name\" >Jeff Sacks<\/h3><div class='team-member-job-title '  itemprop=\"jobTitle\" >Professor and Chair, <em>Comparative Literature\/Arabic<\/em><\/div><div class='team-member-description '  itemprop=\"description\" ><p>Ph.D., Arabic and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, 2006<\/p>\n<p><strong>Office:<\/strong> HMNSS 2508<br \/>\n<strong>Email:<\/strong> <a href=\"mailto:jeffrey.sacks@ucr.edu\">jeffrey.sacks@ucr.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><span class='hidden team-member-affiliation'  itemprop=\"affiliation\" >UCR | Department of Comparative Literature and Languages<\/span><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-7en10a-bacd9c75672e6053de84502d6285d73b\">\n.avia-image-container.av-7en10a-bacd9c75672e6053de84502d6285d73b img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-7en10a-bacd9c75672e6053de84502d6285d73b .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-7en10a-bacd9c75672e6053de84502d6285d73b av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_team_member  el_before_av_image '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordhampress.com\/9781531512330\/poeticality\/\" class='avia_image' target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label='poeticality'><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-5424 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-5424 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-200x300.jpg\" alt='' title='poeticality'  height=\"300\" width=\"200\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-687x1030.jpg 687w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-1000x1500.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-470x705.jpg 470w, https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poeticality-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-2sc8be-9171f61c91ab17ff9100182347e2aabe\">\n.avia-image-container.av-2sc8be-9171f61c91ab17ff9100182347e2aabe img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-2sc8be-9171f61c91ab17ff9100182347e2aabe .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-2sc8be-9171f61c91ab17ff9100182347e2aabe av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_image  avia-builder-el-last '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordhampress.com\/9780823264957\/iterations-of-loss\/\" class='avia_image' target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label='sacks-book'><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-2252 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-2252 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/sacks-book.jpg\" alt='' title='sacks-book'  height=\"296\" width=\"197\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-5kd9nu-061ad08e2435f88197a6d8f295ee7783\">\n.flex_column.av-5kd9nu-061ad08e2435f88197a6d8f295ee7783{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-5kd9nu-061ad08e2435f88197a6d8f295ee7783 av_two_third  avia-builder-el-5  el_after_av_one_third  avia-builder-el-last  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  '     ><p><section  class='av_textblock_section av-3nhmoq-2279740aa86d9cad7a119e585459f3ee '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I work, teach, and write on poetics, critical theory, and Arabic Studies. I\u2019m also interested in a number of overlapping questions in relation to collective socialities, law, philology, translation, the question of Palestine, Arabic philosophy, Jewish thought, decolonization in global frames, and practices of study.<\/p>\n<p>I have authored two academic books: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordhampress.com\/9781531512330\/poeticality\/\">Poeticality: In Refusal of Settler Life<\/a> <\/em>(Fordham UP, forthcoming, 2025), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordhampress.com\/9780823264957\/iterations-of-loss\/\"><em>Iterations of Loss: Mutilation and Aesthetic Form al-Shidyaq to Darwish<\/em><\/a> (Fordham UP, 2015), which was awarded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acla.org\/harry-levin-prize-citations-2016\">Harry Levin Prize<\/a> of the American Comparative Literature Association (2016). In 2023 I edited a special issue of the journal <em>Critical Times: Interventions in Global Critical Theory<\/em> around the theme <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/critical-times\/issue\/6\/1\">\u201cCritique and Translation.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I am presently completing a book, titled <em>Pomegranate Colloquy: Notes on Palestine and Decolonization<\/em>, and I\u2019m working, in longer time-frames, on two books: one about law and the other about Marx.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Books<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordhampress.com\/9781531512330\/poeticality\/\">Poeticality: In Refusal of Settler Life<\/a><\/em> (Fordham UP, forthcoming, 2025)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordhampress.com\/9780823264957\/iterations-of-loss\/\"><em>Iterations of Loss: Mutilation and Aesthetic Form, al-Shidyaq to Darwish<\/em><\/a> (Fordham UP, 2015).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Editing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/critical-times\/issue\/6\/1\"><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Critique and Translation<b>.\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/a>A special issue of\u00a0<em>Critical Times: Interventions in Global Critical Theory <\/em>(Vol. 6, No. 1, 2023)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Translations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Mahmoud Darwish,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archipelagobooks.org\/book\/why-did-you-leave-the-horse-alone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?<\/em><\/a>, tr. Jeffrey Sacks (Archipelago, 2006).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Interviews<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jadaliyya.com\/pages\/index\/22391\/new-texts-out-now_jeffrey-sacks-iterations-of-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Texts Out Now: &#8220;Jeffrey Sacks, &#8216;Iterations of Loss: Mutilation and Aesthetic form, al-Shidyaq to Darwish.'&#8221;<\/a> Jadaliyya (2015)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Articles, Book Chapters, Reviews<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Available here: <a href=\"https:\/\/ucriverside.academia.edu\/JeffSacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/ucriverside.academia.edu\/JeffSacks<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201cLaf\u1e93: Language Praxis.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/pmla\/article\/lafz-language-praxis\/9AF50B0246737E51CE8A1E83AA7475DE\"><em>PMLA<\/em> Vol. 139, No. 1 (2024): 120-127.<\/a> A special issue on \u201cAn Arabic Theoretical Lexicon.\u201d Ed. Anna Stanton, Larab Harb, and Jeannie Miller.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201cNonsense: Critique for the Times.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/critical-times\/article\/6\/1\/1\/367576\/IntroductionNonsense-Critique-for-the-Times\"><em>Critical Times<\/em> Vol. 6, No. 1 (2023): 1-14.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201c\u2018The Visual Poetry of the Work\u2019: Critique, Form, and Life in the Language of Theodor Adorno and the Art of Mona Hatoum.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/critical-times\/article\/6\/1\/114\/318314\/The-Visual-Poetry-of-the-Work-Critique-Form-and\"><em>Critical Times<\/em> Vol. 6, No. 1 (2023): 114-142.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201cLoving Sentient Flesh.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/muse.jhu.edu\/article\/885133\"><em>Comparative Literature Studies<\/em>, Vol. 60, No. 1 (2023): 22-30.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201cOne: Poetic Love in Ibn \u02bfArab\u012b.\u201d In <em>Literature and Religious Experience<\/em>, ed. Matthew J. Smith and Caleb D. Spencer (London: Bloomsbury, 2022), 193-208.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;The Philological Thesis: Language Without Ends.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/boundary-2\/article\/48\/1\/65\/168466\/The-Philological-ThesisLanguage-without-Ends\"><em>boundary 2<\/em> 48.1 (2021): 65-107.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Fanon&#8217;s Insurgence.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/13688790.2020.1752248\"><em>Postcolonial Studies<\/em> 23.2 (May 2020): 1-17.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Philology Everywhere: World Literature and A\u1e25mad F\u0101ris al-Shidy\u0101q&#8217;s <em>Leg over Leg<\/em>.&#8221; In <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1002\/9781118635193.ctwl0164\"><em>A Companion to World Literature<\/em><\/a>, ed. Ken Seigneurie (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2020), 4:1-11.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;The Politics of Death and the Question of Palestine.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/comparative-literature\/article\/71\/4\/357\/140781\/The-Politics-of-Death-and-the-Question-of\"><em>Comparative Literature<\/em> 71.4 (2019): 357-380.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;The Resistance to Boycott: Palestine, BDS, and the Modern Language Association.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/radical-history-review\/article\/2019\/134\/233\/138430\/The-Resistance-to-BoycottPalestine-BDS-and-the\"><em>Radical History Review<\/em> 134 (May 2019): 233-243.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Against Simplicity: The Languages of Pain in Talal Asad and Etel Adnan.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/muse.jhu.edu\/pub\/1\/article\/714040\/summary\"><em>Modern Language Notes<\/em> 133.5 (2018): 1304-1336.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Philologesis: Adun\u012bs, al-Ma\u02bfarr\u012b, al-F\u0101r\u0101b\u012b.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/brill.com\/view\/journals\/jal\/49\/3\/article-p204_2.xml?rskey=S9aK8W&amp;result=3\"><em>Journal of Arabic Literature<\/em> 49.3 (2018): 204-242.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Poetic Theology: Paul and Form.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1080\/1462317X.2018.1513188\"> <em>Political Theology<\/em> 19.7 (2018): 629-637.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Teaching Mahmoud Darwish.&#8221; In <em>Arabic Literature for the Classroom<\/em>, ed. Muhsin J. al-Musawi (New York: Routledge, 2017), 171-188.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;The Philological Present: Reading the Arabic Nineteenth Century.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/brill.com\/view\/journals\/jal\/47\/1-2\/article-p169_1570064x_047_01-02_s008.pdf.xml?language=en&amp;srsltid=AfmBOoovL7vYPMUVfnMj2jzoU8AeN-ULejpvvtwUmKbxuloauxqUyg9r\"> <em>Journal of Arabic Literature<\/em> 47.1-2 (2016): 169-207.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Palestine and Sovereign Violence.&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/cssaame\/article\/34\/2\/368\/59839\/Palestine-and-Sovereign-Violence\"><em>Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East<\/em>\u00a034.2 (2014): 368-389.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Falling into Pieces, or A\u1e25mad F\u0101ris al-Shidy\u0101q and Literary History: A Love Letter.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/1475262X.2013.891392\"><em>Middle Eastern Literatures<\/em> 16.3 (2013): 317-333.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Untranslatability.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/muse.jhu.edu\/article\/465442\"><em>Modern Language Notes<\/em> 126.5 (2011): 1083-1122.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Reading with Darwish.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.palestine-studies.org\/en\/node\/42485\"> <em>Journal of Palestine Studies<\/em> 40.4 (2011): 104-106.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Latinity.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/muse.jhu.edu\/pub\/26\/article\/379873\/pdf\"><em>CR: The New Centennial Review<\/em> 9.3 (2009): 251-286.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;For Decolonization.&#8221; <em>Arab Studies Journal<\/em> 17.1 (2009): 110-134.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Language Places.&#8221; In <a href=\"https:\/\/interlinkbooks.com\/product\/mahmoud-darwish-exiles-poet\/\"><em>Mahmoud Darwish: Exile&#8217;s Poet<\/em><\/a>, ed. Hala Khamis Nassar and Najat Rahman (Northampton, Mass.: Interlink Books, 2008), 239-272.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Futures of Literature: Inhitat, Adab, Naqd.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/muse.jhu.edu\/pub\/1\/article\/260678\"><em>diacritics<\/em> 37.4 (2007): 32-55.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='avia-button-wrap av-23f0xm-d2e2e2e0933fef8c2aad1d3cec8fce20-wrap avia-button-left  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last '><a href='https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/people\/faculty\/'  class='avia-button av-23f0xm-d2e2e2e0933fef8c2aad1d3cec8fce20 avia-icon_select-yes-left-icon avia-size-medium avia-position-left avia-color-theme-color'  ><span class='avia_button_icon avia_button_icon_left' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue88c' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><span class='avia_iconbox_title' >Back to Faculty<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1769,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2250","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5441,"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2250\/revisions\/5441"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/complitlang.ucr.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}