Harold Bloom

Harold Bloom (1930–2019) was an American literary critic and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents, he became one of the most influential literary critics of the 20th century, known for his theory of the “anxiety of influence” and his defense of the Western literary canon.

Bloom’s book “The American Religion” (1992) offered a provocative analysis of American religious movements, including Mormonism, which he characterized as a genuine new religious tradition rather than simply a Christian denomination. He saw in Mormon theology a distinctive vision of human potential and divine embodiment.

Throughout his career, Bloom championed what he called the “strangeness” of great literature—its capacity to transform and transcend ordinary human experience. His interest in gnosticism, mysticism, and the visionary imagination connects to transhumanist themes of self-transcendence and human transformation.