'''James O. Naremore,''' a film, English, and literature scholar, is Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of English, Comparative Literature, and the Media School at Indiana University Bloomington.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=James Naremore |url=https://comparativeliterature.indiana.edu/about/emeriti-faculty/naremore-james.html |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=Department of Comparative Literature |language=en}}</ref> Naremore is best known for his writings on film history, genre, and theory, and for his studies of film noir and directors Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Vincente Minnelli, Charles Burnett, and Pedro Costa.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~cmcl/faculty/naremore.shtml|title=Emeriti Faculty – James O. Naremore|publisher=Indiana University Bloomington|accessdate=25 April 2011}}</ref>
== Academic career == Naremore began teaching at Indiana University in 1970 as an assistant professor of English, and was promoted to associate professor in 1973 and professor in 1977.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-12-29 |title=Interview with James Naremore – Senses of Cinema |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/feature-articles/naremore/ |access-date=2026-03-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> He served multiple terms as Director of Film Studies between 1976 and 1994, and in 1994 was appointed Chancellor’s Professor.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2014-12-22 |title=Falling For You: Essays on Cinema and Performance – Screening the Past |url=https://www.screeningthepast.com/issue-10-reviews/falling-for-you-essays-on-cinema-and-performance/ |access-date=2026-03-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> He has also held visiting and guest professorships at the University of Hamburg (1980–81), the University of Chicago (2001, 2007, 2012), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2010), and the University of California, Los Angeles (2013).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-02 |title=An interview with film historian and critic James Naremore |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/09/02/nare-s02.html |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=World Socialist Web Site |language=en}}</ref>
== Honors and awards == Naremore has received numerous awards for scholarship and teaching. Early recognitions include the Lilly Open Fellowship (1983–84), Indiana University Summer Faculty Fellowships (1976, 1982, 1986, 1994), and the Albert Markham Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin (1972–73).<ref name=":0" /> In 2000, his book ''More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts'' won the International Kraszna-Krausz Moving-Image Book Award<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past Moving Image winners |url=https://kraszna-krausz.org.uk/book-awards/past-moving-image-winners/ |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=Kraszna-Krausz |language=en}}</ref> and a commendation from the Society for Cinema Studies’ Kovács Book Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kovács Book Award {{!}} Awards and Honors {{!}} LibraryThing |url=https://www.librarything.com/award/6135/Kov%C3%A1cs-Book-Award |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=LibraryThing.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2007, ''On Kubrick'' was shortlisted for the Kraszna-Krausz Moving-Image Book Award.<ref name=":2" /> He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship (1995–96),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/james-naremore/ |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=www.gf.org}}</ref> an Alisa Mellon Bruce Senior Research Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art (1994–95),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Senior Fellows {{!}} National Gallery of Art |url=https://www.nga.gov/research/center/former-fellows/senior-fellows |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=www.nga.gov |language=en}}</ref> and a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellowship (1977).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Upon retirement, new work begins for Media School professors |url=https://mediaschool.indiana.edu/news-events/news/item.html?n=upon-retirement-new-work-begins-for-media-school-professors |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=The Media School |language=en-US}}</ref> Additional distinctions include the Jim Welsh Award for Excellence in Adaptation Studies (2017),<ref name=":0" /> the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scholars Award (2014),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-23 |title=JAMES NAREMORE TO PRESENT ACADEMY FILM SCHOLARS BOOK ON ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER CHARLES BURNETT {{!}} Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.oscars.org/news/james-naremore-present-academy-film-scholars-book-acclaimed-filmmaker-charles-burnett |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=www.oscars.org |language=en}}</ref> the Tracy M. Sonneborn Prize for Distinguished Teaching and Research, and multiple teaching excellence awards at Indiana University.<ref name=":1" />
== Research and scholarship == Naremore’s early writings were centered on modern British literature. He is the author of ''The World Without a Self: Virginia Woolf and the Novel'' (1973)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |title=The world without a self: Virginia Woolf and the novel |date=1973 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-01594-2 |location=New Haven}}</ref> and essays on James Joyce, the imagist poets, and Philip Larkin.
Soon, however, he devoted his career exclusively to writings about film. He is the author of ''The Filmguide to Psycho'' (1973),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1007866.Filmguide_to_Psycho |title=Filmguide to Psycho |date=1973 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-39308-1 |series=Indiana University Press filmguide series |location=Bloomington}}</ref> ''Acting in the Cinema'' (1988),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Acting_in_the_Cinema.html?id=u_GbKNvnfMMC |title=Acting in the Cinema |date=1988 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06228-3 |language=en}}</ref> ''An Invention Without a Future: Essays on Cinema'' (2014),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://books.google.com.br/books?id=76kwDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=pt-BR |title=An Invention Without a Future: Essays on Cinema |date=2014-01-10 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-27974-2 |language=en}}</ref> and ''Some Versions of Cary Grant'' (2022).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/some-versions-of-cary-grant-9780197566381?cc=pk&lang=en&# |title=Some versions of Cary Grant |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-756638-1 |location=New York, NY}}</ref> He also wrote short “BFI Film Classics” volumes on the 1957 film ''Sweet Smell of'' Success (2010)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://dokumen.pub/sweet-smell-of-success-9781838713324-9781844572885.html |title=Sweet smell of success |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan on behalf of the British Film Institute |others=British Film Institute |isbn=978-1-84457-288-5 |series=BFI film classics |location=New York}}</ref> and the 1948 film ''Letter from and Unknown Woman'' (2021).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54589730-letter-from-an-unknown-woman |title=Letter from an unknown woman |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83902-236-4 |series=BFI film classics |location=London; New York}}</ref> Both ''On Kubrick'' and ''The Magic World of Orson Welles'' were issued in revised and expanded editions (2023 and 2015 respectively).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |title=The magic world of Orson Welles |date=1989 |publisher=Southern Methodist University Press |isbn=978-0-87074-299-6 |edition= |location=Dallas}}</ref> His award-winning ''More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts'' was also expanded in a later edition to include chapters that explore the evolution of film noir into the twenty-first century and its enduring cultural impact, examining noir as a critical concept, stylistic category, and source of creative influence across media and eras.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunning |first=Tom |date=1999 |title=More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts (review) |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/23275 |journal=Modernism/modernity |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=151–153 |issn=1080-6601}}</ref> In his 2019 ''Film Noir: A Very Short Introduction'', Naremore traces the origin of the term ''film noir'' from French literary and critical discourse to its broad international application, offering analysis on how noir has been shaped by modernism, censorship, stylistic variation, and contemporary media environments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naremore |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Film_Noir.html?id=6hqJDwAAQBAJ |title=Film Noir: A Very Short Introduction |date=2019-02-15 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-250951-2 |language=en}}</ref>
In, 2025, Naremore was the subject of a book-length interview, ''Cinema Then and Now'', conducted by Craig S. Simpson. This book covers his life, teaching, publications, and ideas about a wide range of topics among them criticism, TV streaming, genre, adaptation, collaboration, and film preservation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolverton |first=Andy |date=2025-08-22 |title=Book Review: Cinema Then and Now: James Naremore: Conversations with Craig S. Simpson |url=https://andywolverton.substack.com/p/book-review-then-and-now-james-naremore |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=Journeys in Darkness and Light}}</ref> In that same year, he and Darlene J. Sadlier were co-authors of ''The Haunted Cinema of Pedro Costa''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lash |first=Dominic |date=2026-01-02 |title=The Haunted Cinema of Pedro Costa: JAMES NAREMORE and DARLENE J. SADLIER, 2025, Bloomington, IN, Indiana University Press, pp. x + 207, illus., $70.00 (cloth), $30.00 (paperback) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01439685.2025.2605802 |journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television |language=en |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=247–249 |doi=10.1080/01439685.2025.2605802 |issn=0143-9685|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |title=The World Without a Self: Virginia Woolf and the Novel |url=https://www.google/books/edition/The_World_Without_a_Self-Virginia-Woolf/e-HXoAEACAAJ?HL=CN |date=1973 |publisher=Yale Univ. Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-01594-2 |access-date=1 August 2022 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} * {{cite book |title=Filmguide to Psycho |date=1973 |publisher=Indiana Univ. Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-39307-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMWGAAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Acting in the Cinema |date=1988 |publisher=Univ. of California Press |location=Berkeley Los Angeles London |isbn=978-0-520-91066-9 |url=https://www.google.com/books/editon/Acting_in_the_Cinema/bCFHYjZOHnsC |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Modernity and Mass Culture |date=1997 |publisher=Indiana Univ. Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0-253-20627-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CeEfBGnbkwC |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=The Films of Vincente Minnelli |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-38770-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ojsyNO_hpoC |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts |date=1998 |publisher=Univ. of California Press |location=Berkeley Los Angeles London |isbn=0-520-21294-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9WC7OyjVHQC |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Film Adaptation |date=2000 |publisher=Rutgers Univ. Press |location=New Brunswick |isbn=978-0-8135-2813-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ShvQqAACAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Sweet Smell of Success |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Camden |isbn=978-1-84457-288-5 }} * {{cite book |title=An Invention Without a Future: Essays on Cinema |date=2014 |publisher=Univ. of California Press |location=Berkeley Los Angeles London |isbn=978-0-520-27973-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AUEoAgAAQBAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Charles Burnett: A Cinema of Symbolic Knowledge |date=2017 |publisher=Univ. of California Press |location=Berkeley Los Angeles London |isbn=978-0-520-28553-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6nYyDwAAQBAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=On Kubrick |date=2007 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-84457-142-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrBhmAEACAAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=The Magic of Orson Welles |date=2015 |publisher=Univ. of Illinois Press |location=Urbana, Chicago and Springfield |isbn=978-0-252-08131-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbZCCQBAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Film Noir: A Very Short Introduction |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-879174-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ByJDwAAQBAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Letter From an Unknown Woman |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-83902-234-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7YyEAAAQBAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} * {{cite book |title=Some Versions of Cary Grant |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-756638-1 |url=https://google.com/books/edition/Some_Versions_of_Cary_Grant/YJtjEAAAQBAJ |access-date=1 August 2022}} *{{cite book |title=Cinema Then and Now |date=2025 |publisher=Sticking Place Books |location=New York |isbn=979-8-89976-001-3 |url=https://stickingplacebooks.com/books/cinema-then-and-now}} *{{cite book |title=The Haunted Cinema of Pedro Costa |date=2025 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253073242 |url=https://books.google.com.pk/books/about/The_Haunted_Cinema_of_Pedro_Costa.html?id=ezNgEQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.criterion.com/current/author/431-james-naremore ''James Naremore''] on Criterion
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naremore, James}} Category:Film theorists Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Indiana University Bloomington faculty Category:21st-century American academics Category:American film historians Category:Media studies writers