Nancy Pollak
· Associate ProfessorCornell University · Comparative Literature
Active 1973–2013
About
Nancy Pollak is an Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at Cornell University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences. Her academic interests include Russian and English literature, with a particular focus on Russian poetry and American and English poetry, as well as comparative prosody. Her research emphasizes the study of Russian poetry, and she has contributed to the field through publications such as 'Mandelstam the Reader' and various essays and reviews. Pollak is involved in teaching courses related to poetry, translation studies, and Russian literature, and she supervises independent studies and senior essays. Her work integrates literary analysis with a focus on Russian language and literature, contributing to the understanding of poetic forms and cross-cultural literary comparisons.
Research topics
- Art
- Literature
- History
- Visual arts
- Art history
Selected publications
Blue flag with yellow tiger? Flags, authenticity and identity
Journal of the Institute of Conservation · 2013-03-01 · 4 citations
articleThe Flag of the Formosa Republic in the collection of the National Taiwan Museum is a national icon. It is a copy of one made in 1895 to mark the formation of a new Taiwanese republic; this replica, described in a contemporary newspaper account as an exact copy, was made in Japan in 1909. The painted flag was an intriguing puzzle. Instrumental analysis and a close study of the flag itself and of surviving historic photographs and records were used to try to establish whether what looked like later additions and repairs were actually part of the original construction. An international team of conservators and scientists from Taiwan, the UK, the USA and Germany carried out the investigation and the conservation treatment. Although dye analysis was inconclusive and it has not yet been possible to ascertain the original colour, it was felt that an addition in the upper right corner and some of the repairs could well be part of the original construction and these were left in situ though other repairs were removed. The paper lining was removed, revealing that the flag was painted on both sides. The fabric was cleaned using a vacuum suction table, while the paint surface was cleaned with swabs. The flag was supported using an adhesive treatment with Lascaux acrylic resin.
On work and war: The words and deeds of Dorothy Day and Simone Weil
Summit (Simon Fraser University) · 2005-01-01
dissertationOpen access1st authorCorrespondingDorothy Day (1 897-1980), American organizer of the Catholic Worker movement, is a heroic figure among peace and social justice activists. Simone Weil(1909 -1943), French mystic and philosopher, is celebrated in intellectual circles. Both women trained their attention on a liberating vision of work and were unsparing in their critique of war. Both adopted Catholicism as the home that best reflected their spiritual aspirations. The interplay of radicalism and religion was the compelling feature of their lives. As political activists and spiritual innovators, Day and Weil framed the challenges of their generation in unorthodox ways. Their encounters with suffering and injustice led them to stretch the fabric of political thought to include human experience on an intimate level. This paper is a case study of how two extraordinary twentieth-century women, politically rebellious yet religiously obedient, responded to their times.
2005-01-01 · 19 citations
articleThe Russian Review · 1997-07-01
articleSenior authorJournal of the American Institute for Conservation · 1996-01-01
article1st authorCorrespondingIn the course of treating Mountain Beloved of Spring, a painting on canvas by Arthur Bowen Davies, it became apparent that the sky was completely overpainted. No history of previous treatment existed, and evidence gleaned from examining the painting indicated that another paint layer had been applied some time after the painting had been completed. The possibility existed that the artist had repainted the sky, although in its present state the sky did not carry the same characteristics as the rest of the image. Historical records and analysis of the painting were used to develop a probable history, including an early photograph that appeared to show the painting prior to the application of the second layer. The evidence that led to the decision to remove the second paint layer and the subsequent treatment are discussed.
Journal of the American Institute for Conservation · 1996-01-01
article1st authorCorrespondingNancy R. Pollak, Arthur B. Davies's "Mountain Beloved of Spring": Determining Treatment by Reconstructing a Painting's History, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Autumn - Winter, 1996), pp. 169-183
1995-01-01 · 5 citations
book1st authorCorrespondingIn Mandelstam the Reader Nancy Pollak presents a set of close readings of the late verse and prose of Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), dating from 1930 to his exile, followed by his death in a transit camp eight years later. Pollak offers a new paradigm for the study of what has traditionally been the most rarified and hermetic literary mode. Presenting what could be termed an "anthropology of poetry," Pollak shows that for Mandelstam, as for Dante, poetry is a vital link to the very substance of a poet's contemporary culture; identity, genealogy, religion, and language. Such an approach flows naturally from Pollak's fundamental insight that the key to Mandelstam's work is his name, the irreducible kernel of his identity - as a Russian, as a Jew, and as a modernist.
The Slavic and East European Journal · 1988-01-01
article1st authorCorrespondingSlavic Review · 1988-01-01
article1st authorCorrespondingAn abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Canadian-American Slavic Studies · 1988-01-01
article1st authorCorresponding"Nikolaj Gumilev 1886-1986:Papersfrom the Gumilev Centenary SymposiumHeldatRoss Priory, Universityof Strathclyde, 1986. Edited, with an introduction, by Sheelagh Duffin Graham. Berkeley: Berkeley Slavic Specialties, 1987. 332 pp. $16.00 (paper)." published on 01 Jan 1988 by Brill | Schöningh.
Frequent coauthors
- 1 shared
Wan‐Ping Chen
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences
- 1 shared
Jane Stinson
- 1 shared
Elena Glazov-Corrigan
- 1 shared
Marcy Cohen
- 1 shared
Frances Lennard
- 1 shared
Chunmei Lin
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