Mandelstam
Brown's principal original scholarly work and his definitive biography of Osip Mandelstam.
Author guide
Clarence Brown Books in Order
Clarence Brown (1929–2015) was an American scholar of comparative literature, literary critic, and translator. He taught at Princeton University from 1959 until his retirement in 1999 and became internationally recognized for his scholarship on the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. His major books include The Prose of Osip Mandelstam, a translated and critically edited volume, and the award-winning biography and study Mandelstam. Brown also translated Russian poetry and prose, edited The Portable Twentieth-Century Russian Reader, and served as a cartoonist and newspaper columnist.
literary criticismRussian literaturecomparative literaturetranslation
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Novels (2)
- The Prose of Osip Mandelstam
nonfiction · 1965
- Mandelstam
nonfiction · 1973
Frequently asked questions about Clarence Brown
Who was Clarence Brown?
Clarence Brown (1929–2015) was an American comparative-literature scholar, literary critic, and translator best known for his pioneering work on modern Russian literature, especially Osip Mandelstam.
Where was Clarence Brown born and educated?
He was born in Anderson, South Carolina. He earned degrees from Duke University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University.
What was Clarence Brown’s career at Princeton?
Brown joined Princeton as an instructor in 1959, became a professor in 1969, and later taught comparative literature. He retired in 1999 as a professor emeritus.
Sources: princeton.edu (opens in a new tab)blogs.princeton.edu (opens in a new tab)
What influenced Clarence Brown’s work on Osip Mandelstam?
A year in the Soviet Union brought Brown into contact with Mandelstam’s widow, Nadezhda, whose recollections and papers shaped his research. Their friendship also helped lead to the donation of Osip Mandelstam’s papers to Princeton in 1976.
Sources: princeton.edu (opens in a new tab)blogs.princeton.edu (opens in a new tab)
What awards did Clarence Brown receive, and what is his legacy?
Princeton reported that Brown received the Christian Gauss Award in Literary Criticism, and that one of his books was nominated for a National Book Award. He is remembered as a pioneer of Mandelstam studies and as an important contributor to the preservation of Mandelstam’s literary archive.
Sources: princeton.edu (opens in a new tab)pbk.org (opens in a new tab)blogs.princeton.edu (opens in a new tab)