Mozer wins for Best Article Published

Flagler College reported to Historic City News that Hadley Mozer, Ph.D., associate professor of English, recently had his essay titled “‘Ozymandias,’ or De Casibus Lord Byron: Literary Celebrity on the Rocks,” selected as the winner for the best article published in the 2010 European Romantic Review journal.

The European Romantic Review editorial board based its winning selection on the “article’s merits in scholarship, originality, quality of writing and significance for Romantic Era Studies.”

Mozer’s essay draws parallels between romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandius” – a poem based on the ruined statuary and facial expressions of a pharaoh named Ozymandias – and the facial expressions of Lord Byron.

“In the poem, Ozymandias has this malevolent, sneering expression on his face,” said Mozer. “If you look at Egyptian statuary, the faces of the pharaohs are never sculpted with sneers; they’re more flat and expressionless. Shelley and Byron were friends, but they were also rivals. In my essay, I argue that the sneering expression of Ozymandius is not just a malevolent expression meant to criticize pharaohs, kings and men of power – that the sneering expression of Ozymandius is actually deliberately Byronic. I believe it’s [the poem] deliberately meant to invoke Byron.”

Darien Andreu, Ph.D., associate professor of English and chair of the English Department, said that Mozer’s work is sterling in its conception.

“This is his second consecutive designation for outstanding scholarship awarded after publication,” she said. “Dr. Mozer’s students repeatedly cite their appreciation for the professionalism he models in and beyond the classroom.”

In August, Mozer will travel to Provo, Utah, to receive his award certificate along with a $500 prize.

Mozer received his Ph.D. and his master’s in English from Baylor University. He is a specialist in Romantic literature, and his academic interests include advertising in Romantic literature and in the works of Lord Byron.

Mozer has been published in “Studies in Romanticism” and “Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia.”

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer