Eliot Borenstein

Eliot Borenstein is an author and professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University. His main interests are Russian contemporary literature and cultural studies, conspiracy theories, and internet culture.

Biography Borenstein grew up in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. He earned a B.A. (Russian language and literature) in 1988 from Oberlin College, an M.A. (Slavic languages and literatures) in 1989 from University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a Ph.D. (Slavic languages and literatures) in 1993, also from University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Borenstein joined the NYU Faculty of Arts and Science’s department of Russian & Slavic studies in 1995. Before that he was an assistant professor at the University of Virginia (1993–95)

Books

Men without Women: Masculinity and Revolution in Russian Fiction, 1917-1929 2001 AATSEEL book prize Overkill: Sex and Violence in Contemporary Russian Popular Culture 2008 AWSS Heldt Prize Plots against Russia: Conspiracy and Fantasy after Socialism "...analyzes Russian national myths and disturbingly popular beliefs in the internet age"... "Borenstein demonstrates how a sense of historical loss and post-1989 political traumas have shaped a significant part of Russian political consciousness in the 21st century." and 2020 AATSEEL book prize 2020: Pussy Riot: Speaking Punk to Power 2023:Marvel Comics in the 1970s: The World Inside Your Head 2022:Meanwhile, in Russia…: Russian Internet Memes and Viral Video 2023:HBO’s The Leftovers: Mourning and Melancholy on Premium Cable 2024: Harry Potter in Russia: The Politics of Enchantment under Putin 2024: Russian Culture under Putin, Bloomsbury Academic From publisher's description: " It considers how, when Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, Russia's media and culture industry had enjoyed nearly a decade of almost unrestricted freedom and yet, by the time he launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia's independent media was crushed, while the few viable opposition figures were either imprisoned, exiled, or dead under mysterious circumstances." The following three books are an unofficial series which the author titled Russia's Alien Nations. Before printing, the author serialized them in his blog. 2023:Soviet-Self-Hatred: The Secret Identities of Postsocialism in Contemporary Russia 2024: Unstuck in Time: On the Post-Soviet Uncanny The book is about Soviet nostalgia in Russian literary fiction. Cornell University Press offers a free e-book online. The title of the book comes from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five: "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. Billy has gone to sleep a senile widower and awakened on his wedding day. He has walked through a door in 1955 and come out another one in 1941." TBA: The author announced the future title, Unidentified Russian Objects: On Soviet Melancholy, which Borenstein is updating weekly. 1999: Fulbright Fellowship 1999, 2005: Golden Dozen Teaching Awards