Benjamin Arenstein is an instructor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. His work focuses on the political and social resonances of poetry across Soviet space (working languages Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Georgian, and Tajik). He is particularly interested in translation theory, ecocriticism, and the relationship between multilingualism and canon formation. 

 

Benjamin's current research project, Poetry and the Soviet Jewish Underground, 1956-1989 examines how writers, editors, readers, and translators used unofficial verse to reimagine Jewish life under late socialism. His research has been supported by the Fulbright Foundation, Title VIII, the American Institute for Research in the South Caucasus, and the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 

 

In addition, Benjamin is an active translator, curator, and letterpress printer. His current projects include an exhibition on Georgian-Jewish life at the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi (co-curated with Teona Japaridze) and a letterpress series of Yankev Glatshteyn's post-war Yiddish poetry. 

 

Benjamin teaches courses on Soviet and Russian literature, Jewish culture, and Russian language. Students in his courses will work closely with the UIUC library to examine rare and archival materials from the university's special collections. In his course on the Underground Book, students develop bookmaking skills in collaboration with Skeuomorph Press.