Overview
Professor of Comparative and Russian Literature, Shapiro has been on faculty at Cornell University since 1987. In his teaching and research, he focuses on the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian culture within the Western context as well as on the role of literature as an integral part of the sister arts.
Shapiro’s major publications include: Nikolai Gogol and the Baroque Cultural Heritage (1993); Delicate Markers: Subtexts in Vladimir Nabokov’s “Invitation to a Beheading” (1998); The Sublime Artist’s Studio: Nabokov and Painting (2009), The Tender Friendship and the Charm of Perfect Accord: Nabokov and His Father (2014), and Thanksgiving All Year Round (2016). Shapiro also edited Nabokov at Cornell (2003) and has contributed numerous articles and book chapters to various scholarly periodicals and critical collections. He received fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin and from the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C.
Research Focus
Seventeenth-century Russian literature
Eastern Slavic folklore
Nineteenth-century Russian prose, specifically Gogol
Twentieth-century Russian prose, specifically Nabokov
Interaction between literature and the fine arts
History of culture
Publications
Nikolai Gogol and the Baroque Cultural Heritage (1993)
Delicate Markers: Subtexts in Vladimir Nabokov’s “Invitation to a Beheading” (1998)
(Ed.) Nabokov at Cornell (2003)
The Sublime Artist’s Studio: Nabokov and Painting (2009)
The Tender Friendship and the Charm of Perfect Accord: Nabokov and His Father (2014)
Thanksgiving All Year Round (2016)
