- GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVE
To study the development of Russian literature through the 19th century, with equal emphasis on the literary, social and philosophical problems raised by the leading writers of the age. Questions of the responsibility of the individual to himself and to the social collective, so important to 19th century Russian intellectual life, will be the focus.
- DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECT MATTER
Masterpieces of Russian literature, novels, drama, and short stories, will be analyzed from the perspective of the themes and the ideas they express, and the literary styles they demonstrate. Where relevant, the broader cultural world will be surveyed, for example, Tolstoy in art and music, elements of folklore in Pushkin and Gogol, the relationship of Christianity to social life as explored by ÎDostoevsky, the 'generation gap' in general as well as described by Turgenev.
- METHOD OF INSTRUCTION AND STUDY
The course will be based on discussion of the primary texts, and will emphasize original critical analysis. course requirements will be two short papers, a take-home midterm and a final, or alternative option. (Because Russian authors are notoriously long winded, effort has been made to select the shorter masterpieces of Russian literature. We will not attempt War and Piece,) Feature motion pictures from the Soviet Union will be used to give students a visual sense of differences in Russian culture.
- INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND SOURCES
