Valentina Izmirlieva is a scholar of Balkan and Russian religious cultures with a strong background in critical theory and intellectual history. Two areas of specialization represent the scope of her teaching interests: the religious culture of the Orthodox Slavs with an emphasis on the medieval and early modern periods, and literary Modernism and Postmodernism with a focus on Vladimir Nabokov. Much of her research addresses cultural transfers among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the context of multi-religious empires.
Valentina Izmirlieva Education:
- Ph.D. -- University of Chicago, 1999 - M.A. -- Ohio State University, 1991 - B.A. -- Sofia University, 1987
Valentina Izmirlieva Courses:
The Muslim and the Christian in Balkan Narratives; Religion in Russia: Culture, History, Institutions; Old Russian Literature I: The Making of Old Rus'; Old Russian Literature II: On the Verge of Modernity; Orthodoxy, Text, Ritual; Magical Mystery Tour: The Legacy of Old Rus'; Proseminar in Literary Theory and Method; The Lolita Phenomenon; Acmeism; Russian Symbolist Poetry; Literature and Ideology: Balkan Modernism and Postmodernism.
Fellowships and Grants:
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library, 2012-2013 - National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Summer Mediterranean Institute, Barcelona, Spain, 2012 - Harriman Seed Grant, 2010-2011 - National Council for East European and Eurasian Research -- Title VIII National Research Competition Grant, 2009-2011 - Howard Foundation Fellowship in History, 2009-2010 - Erasmus Institute Fellowship, Summer Faculty Seminar, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, 2003 - Junior Fellowship, Institute for Advanced Study of Religion, The University of Chicago, 1998-1999 - Whiting Dissertation Fellowship, 1991-1997. - Century Fellowship, The University of Chicago, 1991-1995 - Fulbright Scholarship, 1990-1995
Valentina Izmirlieva Selected Publications.
Books:
- All the Names of the Lord: Lists, Mysticism, and Magic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. - (co-ed. with Boris Gasparov) Translation and Tradition in Slavia Orthodoxa. Series Slavische Sprachgeschichte 5. Vienna, Austria: Lit Verlag, 2012.
Articles:
- "Hosting the Divine Logos: Radical Hospitality and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment" in Routledge Companion to Literature and Religion (forthcoming) - "Christian Hajjis--The Other Orthodox Pilgrims to Jerusalem," 73 Slavic Review 2 (2014): 322-46; Winner of the Distinguished Article Prize of the Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture for 2014 - "The Title Hajji and the Ottoman Vocabulary of Pilgrimage," 28/29 Modern Greek Studies Yearbook, 2012-2013, 137-67. - "The 72 Names of The Lord: Translation, Transliteration and Religious Hybridization." In Translation and Tradition in Slavia Orthodoxa, Valentina Izmirlieva and Boris Gasparov, eds. Vienna, Austria: 2012, 46-65 (in Russian). - "Typography and Magic on the Threshold of Modern Europe: Printed Amulets between the Apennines and the Balkans," Starobulgarska literatura, 41/42 (2009): 453-65 (in Bulgarian). - "Orthodox Widows: The Burden and Power of Charisma." In Women and the Orthodox Church: Past Roles, Future Paradigms. Ed. Justin Marc Lasser. The Sophia Institute. Studies of Orthodox Theology, vol. 1, New York: Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, 2009, 65-81. - "The Peculiar Codex Jerusalem 22: Tracing the Slavic Kabbalah." In Jews and Slavs. Vol. 20. The Holy Land and the Manuscript Legacy of the Slavs. Jerusalem and Sofia: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center, 2008, 87-108. - "Nabokov and Casanova, or Lolita and Zaire." In Poetics. Self. Place: Essays in Honor of Lisa Crone. Eds. Nicole Boudreau, Sarah Krive, and Catherine O'Neil. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2007, 630-647. - "From Babel to Christ and Beyond: The Number 72 in Christian Political Symbolism." Starobulgarska literatura, 35/36 (2006): 3-21. - "Augustine Divided: A Response to David Tracy." In Erotikon: Essays on Eros, Ancient and Modern. Eds. Shadi Bartsch and Thomas Bartscherer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005, 107-112. - "The Aetiology of the Seventy-Two Diseases: Investigating a Byzantino-Slavic False Prayer." Byzantinoslavica,59/1 (1998): 181-195. - "Auf den Spuren einer hypothetischen hagiographischen Gattung im Werk des Evtimij von Turnovo." In Gattungen und Genologie der slavisch-orthodoxen Literaturen des Mittelalters. Ed. Klaus - Dieter Seemann. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1992, 43-62. - (with Petko Ivanov) "The Saint of Sushitsa. Parts 1-3. Folk Vita-- Folk Legends-- Sainthood in Folk Context." Bulgarski folklor, 16/3 (1990): 75-94; 17/1 (1991): 61-78; 17/2 (1991): 3-12 (in Bulgarian)