Adam Weiner
Professor of Russian
Interests include Nabokov, Dostoevsky, literary theory, and the ideological repercussions of Russian fiction.
I have taught Russian language and literature at Wellesley since 1994 and Comparative Literature since 1997. The courses I regularly teach are on Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Russian Film, Dystopian Literature, Magical Realism, and Translation. I also enjoy teaching the Russian language. My translation partner, Alex Demyanov, and I have translated works by Katya Kapovich and Dmitry Prigov.
My first book, By Authors Possessed: The Demonic Novel in Russia (Northwestern UP, 1998), was an inquiry into the image of the devil in the novels of Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Andrei Bely, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Vladimir Nabokov.
My second book, How Bad Writing Destroyed the World: Ayn Rand and the Literary Origins of the Financial Crisis (Bloomsbury, 2016), is a polemic against the idea of "rational egoism," which has produced some of the worst written yet also catastrophically influential novels of all time.
I am currently writing two books: one on Vladimir Nabokov's fiction, the other on I.A. Richards' strange work as an education reformer.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking and travelling with my family and like to amuse myself with chess and highschool math, which I am re-learning in order to help my children with their homework.
Education
- B.A., University of Wisconsin (Madison)
- M.A., University of Wisconsin (Madison)
- Ph.D., University of Wisconsin (Madison)
Current and upcoming courses
Vladimir Nabokov (in English)
RUSS286
An examination of the artistic legacy of the great novelist, critic, lepidopterist, and founder of Wellesley College's Russian Department. Nabokov became one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and English literature. Students will read Lolita, Pnin, and Pale Fire, which were written in English, and Nabokov's English translations of two of his best Russian novels: The Defense and Invitation to a Beheading. The class will also discuss his utterly unique autobiography, Speak, Memory.
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Vladimir Nabokov's Short Stories
RUSS386H
In this course students will enter the world of Nabokov's short fiction and learn to recognize his innovative literary style, obsessive themes, and artistic strategies. Students will increase their passive and active vocabulary and improve their speaking, writing and reading fluency in Russian. Students will translate excerpts from each work discussed. Each student will write a short essay on a story of their choosing and present it to the class. Class meets once weekly for 75 minutes. All work will be in Russian.