Arnold Louis Weinstein (born July 8, 1940) is an American literary scholar best known for his writing that makes the case for

modernist literature Literary modernism, or modernist literature, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented ...

's enduring value for understanding the human experience. He taught at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

for 54 years and is now the university's Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

. Weinstein's numerous articles and eight books have been recognized with various honors. In 2009, for instance, ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

s literary editor

Benjamin Schwarz Benjamin Schwarz (born 10 July 1986) is a German footballer who most recently played for Preußen Münster, as a left back. Career Born in Munich, Schwarz began his career 1991 with SV Ludwigsvorstadt and played here four years before signed fo ...

named Weinstein's study of Scandinavian modernism, ''Northern Arts: The Breakthrough of Scandinavian Literature and Art, from Ibsen to Bergman,'' one of the 25 best books of the year. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary degree by

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

Early life and education

Weinstein was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. After earning a B.A. in Romance Languages at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1962, he enrolled at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he received both an M.A. (1964) and a Ph.D. in

(1968). He studied in Europe during his undergraduate and graduate years, spending time at Universite de Paris, Freie Universitat Berlin, and Universite de Lyon.

Career

Weinstein joined the faculty at Brown University in 1968, shortly before the adoption of the New Curriculum. He worked to bring students to the Department of Comparative Literature through promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and the study of non-Western literature. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1973 and Full Professor in 1978. In 2007, he delivered the keynote address, titled "Reading

Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

, Tracking Bears, at Brown," at the Opening Convocation of the university's 244th year. After 54 on the faculty, Weinstein retired in 2023.

Personal life

Weinstein is married to Ann Cathrine Weinstein (née Berntson), former coordinator of Brown University's Swedish program. He has twin brother, Philip Weinstein, a former professor of English at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

Books

* ''Vision and Response in Modern Fiction''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1974. * ''Fictions of the Self: 1550-1800''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981. * ''The Fiction of Relationship''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. * ''Nobody's Home: Speech, Self and Place in American Fiction from Hawthorne to DeLillo''. 1993. * ''A Scream Goes Through the House: What Literature Teaches Us About Life''. New York, Random House, 2003. * ''Recovering Your Story: Proust, Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner, Morrison''. New York: Random House, 2006. * ''Northern Arts: The Breakthrough of Scandinavian Literature and Art, from Ibsen to Bergman''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. * ''Morning, Noon, and Night: Finding the Meaning of Life's Stages Through Books''. New York: Random House, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinstein, Arnold Literary scholars People from Memphis, Tennessee Princeton University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Brown University faculty 1940 births Living people