Michael Pesenson

Course Description

 This exciting course explores Russian literary and cinematic responses to the ravages of war and revolution, heroic and bloody conflicts that repeatedly devastated the country throughout its long and tumultuous history. We will read a variety of texts dealing with the Napoleonic invasion, the Caucasus campaign, the Revolution of 1917, the Civil War, World War II, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the present-day conflict in Chechnya, and explore how individual writers portrayed the calamity of war and its devastating effect on people’s lives, while expressing hope for ever-elusive peace and universal brotherhood. All readings and discussion will be English. All films will be screened with English subtitles.

Texts:

1. L. Tolstoy, Hadji Murad
2. L. Tolstoy, War and Peace
3. M. Bulgakov, White Guard
4. I. Babel, Red Cavalry
5. V. Grossman, Life and Fate
6. V. Pelevin, Omon Ra
7. Selections from journalistic accounts of A. Borovik and A. Politkovskaya on wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan

Course Content:

This course is the sixth semester of Russian language instruction. It is a practical advanced all-round language course, based on the communicative-functional approach to language learning. We have two goals: 1) Develop functional linguistic proficiency in the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing; and 2) acquire practical linguo-cultural competence, encompassing both high and popular culture.

The textbook by Rifkin, a systematic review of Russian grammar, serves as a skeleton for the course structure. We will cover seven chapters from the second half of the textbook. This review survey will be supplemented by Paperno’s DVD course, along with various other authentic materials determined by student interest, to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Special attention will be paid to the contemporary mass media not only as linguistic material, but also as a point of access to Russian culture in its various forms. The course is conducted in Russian. At the end of the semester, most students should have achieved a proficiency level of 2 on the ILR scale (comparable to Advanced on the ACTFL scale).

Prerequisites: Russian 324 here at UT Austin or the equivalent. All students are responsible for the material of chapters 1-12 of the textbook and accompanying workbook, which were covered in this section of Russian 324 in the Fall semester.

Grading: The components of the course grade and their relative weights are:

• Three in-class exams: 40%.
• Vocabulary quizzes: 10%.
• Homework assignments: 15%.
• Class participation: 15%
• Individual project: composition (in several stages) and oral presentation: 10%
• Oral proficiency exam (scheduled individually at the end of the semester): 10%

There is no final in the course. Plus/minus grading will apply. 

Texts:

• Grammatika v kontekste: Russian Grammar in Literary Contexts. Benjamin  Rifkin, published by McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13: 978-0070528314.
• Advanced Russian: From Reading to Speaking, (?? ?????? ? ????) by Slava Paperno (with Sophia Lubensky and Irina Odintsova), published by Lexicon Bridge. ISBN: 1-58269-055-3.

Additional material will either be distributed in class or made available on-line.

Prerequisites: RUS 611C or 412L. Or a proficiency level of 1 on the ILR scale (equivalent to Intermediate-low or Intermediate?mid on the ACTFL scale).

Course Content: This course is the fifth semester of Russian language instruction. It is a practical advanced all-round language course, based on the communicative-functional approach to language. We have two goals. The first is to develop functional linguistic proficiency in the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The second is to develop practical linguo-cultural competence, encompassing both high and popular culture. The textbook, a systematic review of Russian grammar, serves as a skeleton for the course structure. It will be supplemented by various authentic materials in different media developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Special attention will be paid to the contemporary mass media not only as linguistic material, but also as a point of access to Russian culture in its various forms. The course is conducted in Russian. At the end of the year (after this course and its successor Russian 325), most students should have achieved a proficiency level of 2 on the ILR scale (comparable to Advanced on the ACTFL scale).

Textbook:           

• Benjamin Rifkin, Grammatika v kontekste. Russian grammar in literary contexts. McGraw-Hill, 1996. ISBN-10: 007-052831-4.

Recommended reference sources (not required):

• Katzner, Kenneth. English-Russian, Russian-English Dictionary. 2nd ed. (John Wiley & Sons, 1994). ISBN: 978-0-471-01707-3.
• Wade, Terence. A Comprehensive Russian Grammar. 3rd ed. (John Wiley & Sons, 2000). ISBN: 978-1-4051-3639-6.
• Gerhart, Genevra. The Russian's World. 3rd ed. (Slavica Publishers, 2001). ISBN: 978-0-893-57293-8.

Grading. The components of the course grade and their relative weights are:

• Unit exams: 40%
• Daily homework assignments: 20%
• Class participation: 20%
• Cultural project: composition and oral presentation: 10%
• Oral proficiency exams (mid-term and end-of-semester): 10%

There is no final in the course. Plus/minus grading will apply.

Please contact the instructor if you have any questions.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

This course serves as an introduction to the colorful and exotic literature and culture of medieval and early modern Russia.  Over the course of the semester, we will learn about all aspects of medieval Russian life, exploring important texts from Kievan and Muscovite Rus’ that reveal a vibrant and thriving literary and cultural community.  These texts include notable examples of historical writing, military tales, saints’ lives, homilies, adventure tales, biographies, polemical treatises, and miracle tales.  We will also devote time to the study of medieval Russian art and iconography, examining in particular regional differences in icon painting and other artistic production. In addition, we will watch several well-known Russian films and operas based on medieval historical subjects, such as Alexander Nevsky, Andrei Rublev, Ivan the Terrible, andBoris Godunov, and discuss how composers and directors re-imagined medieval Russian culture for their own times.  All class discussion and reading will be in English.

Texts:

1. S. Zenkovsky, Medieval Russia’s Epics, Chronicles and Tales
2. D. Likhachev, A History of Russian Literature, 11th-17th Centuries
3. On Blackboard: selections from Kievan Caves Paterikon, Domostroi, Kurbsky-Grozny correspondence, I. Timofeev’sChronicle; J. Meyendorff, Byzantium and the Rise of Russia; R. Crummey, The Formation of Muscovy, 1304-1613; J. Billington, The Icon and the Axe.

Films to be screened:

1. Alexander Nevsky (1938)
2. Andrei Rublev (1966)
3. Ivan the Terrible (1944)
4. 1612 (2007)

Operas:

1. Prince Igor (Borodin)
2. Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
3. Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin) (Glinka)

Requirements and Grading:

1. Short Essay (5pp)                      20%
2. Longer essay (10-12 pp)            30%
3. Final examination                       30%
4. Active enthusiastic participation 20%

Course Content:

This course is the sixth semester of Russian language instruction. It is a practical advanced all-round language course, based on the communicative-functional approach to language learning. We have two goals: 1) Develop functional linguistic proficiency in the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing; and 2) acquire practical linguo-cultural competence, encompassing both high and popular culture.

The textbook by Rifkin, a systematic review of Russian grammar, serves as a skeleton for the course structure. We will cover seven chapters from the second half of the textbook. This review survey will be supplemented by Paperno’s DVD course, along with various other authentic materials determined by student interest, to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Special attention will be paid to the contemporary mass media not only as linguistic material, but also as a point of access to Russian culture in its various forms. The course is conducted in Russian. At the end of the semester, most students should have achieved a proficiency level of 2 on the ILR scale (comparable to Advanced on the ACTFL scale).

Prerequisites: Russian 324 here at UT Austin or the equivalent. All students are responsible for the material of chapters 1-12 of the textbook and accompanying workbook, which were covered in this section of Russian 324 in the Fall semester.

Grading: The components of the course grade and their relative weights are:

• Three in-class exams: 40%.
• Vocabulary quizzes: 10%.
• Homework assignments: 15%.
• Class participation: 15%
• Individual project: composition (in several stages) and oral presentation: 10%
• Oral proficiency exam (scheduled individually at the end of the semester): 10%

There is no final in the course. Plus/minus grading will apply. 

Texts:

• Grammatika v kontekste: Russian Grammar in Literary Contexts. Benjamin  Rifkin, published by McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13: 978-0070528314.
• Advanced Russian: From Reading to Speaking, (?? ?????? ? ????) by Slava Paperno (with Sophia Lubensky and Irina Odintsova), published by Lexicon Bridge. ISBN: 1-58269-055-3.

Additional material will either be distributed in class or made available on-line.

This course offers a proficiency-based comprehensive review of Russian grammar and syntax for students who have completed the RUS 324/325 sequence (Third-Year Russian). This course aims to develop advanced grammar topics such as verbal aspect, the intricacies of the Russian verbs of motion, active and passive participles, verbal adverbs and the conditional/hypothetical in the context of communicating effectively in spoken Russian.  The course also reviews the complexities of the Russian case system to reinforce the appropriate usage and application of each case. Learning outcomes for this course follow ACTFL proficiency guidelines for the Advanced level.  Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to satisfy the linguistic requirements of everyday situations, as well as routine school and work requirements; handle with confidence complicated tasks and social situations such as elaborating, complaining and apologizing; narrate and describe events and situations with some detail, linking sentences together smoothly and logically; communicate facts and talk casually about topics of current public and personal interest, using general vocabulary.  The student will be able to hold his/her own in conversation and be easily understood by native speakers of Russian. 

For graduate credit, students will be additionally required to 1) pass a final oral examination to determine advanced proficiency; 2) do a formal presentation in class on an assigned topic related to the morphology and syntax of the Russian language or history of the Russian literary language; and 3) write a final paper in Russian on a topic of their choice related to contemporary Russia and the former Soviet Union.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Russian writers have used the genre of the short story to create extraordinary literary miniatures that serve as counterweights to the sprawling Russian novel and demonstrate unparalleled virtuosity with character and plot development, and exposition of ideas within the constraints of a short form. The objective of this course is to increase advanced reading and conversation skills through close reading and discussion of the major short works by 19th-21st century Russian writers such as Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Prilepin, Lipskerov, Slavnikova, Sorokin, Shishkin, Ulitskaya, Petrushevskaya, Gelasimov, Tolstaya and Pelevin. Background lectures by the instructor will be kept to a minimum to allow maximum student conversation. All readings, class discussion and written assignments are in Russian.

Readings:

1. Pushkin, “The Shot” and “The Storm”
2. Lermontov, “Fatalist”
3. Gogol, “The Nose”
4. Turgenev, selections from the “Hunter’s Notebook”
5. Dostoevsky, “Christmas Eve and the Wedding,”  “Boy at Christ’s Christmas,” and “The Meek One”
6. Chekhov, “Lady with a Lapdog”
7. Prilepin, “Grandmother, Wasps, and Watermelon”
8. Lipskerov, “Oedipus Complex”
9. Slavnikova, “Russian Bullet” and “The Substance”
10. Sorokin, “Underground” and “Hiroshima”
11. Pelevin, “Blue Lantern”
12. Shishkin “Calligraphy Lesson” and “The Half-Belted Coat”
13. Ulitskaya, “The Beast”
14. Petrushevskaya, “Hygiene,” “Revenge,” The Miracle,” “The Fountain House”
15. Gelasimov, “Zhanna” and “The Tender Years”
16. Tolstaya, “Okkervil River” and “Poet and Muse”

Grading:

1. Attendance/Participation in class – 20%
2. 3-4 Short Response Papers (in Russian) on assigned topic – 40%
3. Weekly homework on readings – 20%
4. Final class presentation/paper – 20%

Description:

The Russians have been famously termed “wanderers in search of God’s truth”. In much of their literature there is a discernable thirst for another life, another world, a clear displeasure at what is. There is an eschatological directedness, an expectation that there will be an end to all that is finite, that a final truth will ultimately be revealed, that in the future an extraordinary event will take place. This new course will explore and analyze apocalyptic consciousness in Russian literature and culture from the Middle Ages to the present. Emphasis will be on such themes as the expectation of the end of the world, identification of the Antichrist, messianic prophecy and visions of an afterlife. Readings will include works of Gogol, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Bely, Merezhkovsky, Soloviev, Bulgakov, Makanin, and Tolstaya.

Students will make brief presentations in class on an agreed upon topic of their choice depending on their individual interests.

Reading List: (These works are all available in the bookstore, on Blackboard or on Google Books)

D. Merezhkovsky, Peter and Alexei

A. Pushkin, Bronze Horseman

F. Dostoevsky, Demons

N. Gogol, Dead Souls

M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

V. Soloviev, Third Conversation and Short Story on the Antichrist

A. Bely, Petersburg

M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

T. Tolstaya, Slynx

V. Makanin, Escape Hatch

This exciting course explores Russian literary and cinematic responses to the ravages of war and revolution, heroic and bloody conflicts that repeatedly devastated the country throughout its long and tumultuous history. We will read a variety of texts dealing with the Napoleonic invasion, the Caucasus campaign, the Revolution of 1917, the Civil War, World War II, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the present-day conflict in Chechnya, and explore how individual writers portrayed the calamity of war and its devastating effect on people’s lives, while expressing hope for ever-elusive peace and universal brotherhood. All readings and discussion will be English. All films will be screened with English subtitles.

Texts:

1. L. Tolstoy, Hadji Murad
2. L. Tolstoy, War and Peace
3. M. Bulgakov, White Guard
4. I. Babel, Red Cavalry
5. V. Grossman, Life and Fate
6. V. Pelevin, Omon Ra
7. Selections from journalistic accounts of A. Borovik and A. Politkovskaya on wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan

Requirements and Grading

-       Keeping up with the readings and participation in class discussion       10% 

-       3-4 response papers to readings (2 pages), topics TBA                     30% 

-       Midterm paper (Tolstoy) (6-8 pages)                                           30% 

-       Final Paper (8-10 pages)                                                          30% 

Please check back for updates.

Russian literature has traditionally been viewed as a literature of ideas and social awareness. The writer was celebrated not only as a literary craftsman but as a philosopher, a prophet, a voice of conscience. This course will explore Russian literature of dissent directed against the stifling and oppressive rules of tsars and commissars alike, as well as more recent autocratic trends in post-Soviet Russia. We will read repressed works by writers harshly critical of the ruling regimes and elites, who often paid a heavy price for their outspokenness and opposition. We will discuss the manifestation of dissent in their works, its influence on society, and the repercussions their acts of defiance had for the writers themselves. Readings of literature will be complemented by weekly screenings of films, also banned in the Soviety Union.

Grading Policy:

• 3 short response papers  10%
• Oral presentation  20%
• Final paper  30%
• Attendance and participation  20%

Russian writers have used the genre of the short story to create extraordinary literary miniatures that serve as counterweights to the sprawling Russian novel and demonstrate unparalleled virtuosity with character and plot development, and exposition of ideas within the constraints of a short form. The objective of this course is to increase advanced reading and conversation skills through close reading and discussion of the major short works by 19th-21st century Russian writers such as Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Prilepin, Lipskerov, Slavnikova, Sorokin, Shishkin, Ulitskaya, Petrushevskaya, Gelasimov, Tolstaya and Pelevin. Background lectures by the instructor will be kept to a minimum to allow maximum student conversation. All readings, class discussion and written assignments are in Russian.

Readings:

1. Pushkin, “The Shot” and “The Storm”
2. Lermontov, “Fatalist”
3. Gogol, “The Nose”
4. Turgenev, selections from the “Hunter’s Notebook”
5. Dostoevsky, “Christmas Eve and the Wedding,”  “Boy at Christ’s Christmas,” and “The Meek One”
6. Chekhov, “Lady with a Lapdog”
7. Prilepin, “Grandmother, Wasps, and Watermelon”
8. Lipskerov, “Oedipus Complex”
9. Slavnikova, “Russian Bullet” and “The Substance”
10. Sorokin, “Underground” and “Hiroshima”
11. Pelevin, “Blue Lantern”
12. Shishkin “Calligraphy Lesson” and “The Half-Belted Coat”
13. Ulitskaya, “The Beast”
14. Petrushevskaya, “Hygiene,” “Revenge,” The Miracle,” “The Fountain House”
15. Gelasimov, “Zhanna” and “The Tender Years”
16. Tolstaya, “Okkervil River” and “Poet and Muse”

Grading:

1. Attendance/Participation in class – 20%
2. 3-4 Short Response Papers (in Russian) on assigned topic – 40%
3. Weekly homework on readings – 20%
4. Final class presentation/paper – 20%

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

This course serves as an introduction to the colorful and exotic literature and culture of medieval and early modern Russia.  Over the course of the semester, we will learn about all aspects of medieval Russian life, exploring important texts from Kievan and Muscovite Rus’ that reveal a vibrant and thriving literary and cultural community.  These texts include notable examples of historical writing, military tales, saints’ lives, homilies, adventure tales, biographies, polemical treatises, and miracle tales.  We will also devote time to the study of medieval Russian art and iconography, examining in particular regional differences in icon painting and other artistic production. In addition, we will watch several well-known Russian films and operas based on medieval historical subjects, such as Alexander Nevsky, Andrei Rublev, Ivan the Terrible, and Boris Godunov, and discuss how composers and directors re-imagined medieval Russian culture for their own times.  All class discussion and reading will be in English.

Texts:

1. S. Zenkovsky, Medieval Russia’s Epics, Chronicles and Tales
2. D. Likhachev, A History of Russian Literature, 11th-17th Centuries
3. On Blackboard: selections from Kievan Caves Paterikon, Domostroi, Kurbsky-Grozny correspondence, I. Timofeev’s Chronicle; J. Meyendorff, Byzantium and the Rise of Russia; R. Crummey, The Formation of Muscovy, 1304-1613; J. Billington, The Icon and the Axe.

Films to be screened:

1. Alexander Nevsky (1938)
2. Andrei Rublev (1966)
3. Ivan the Terrible (1944)
4. 1612 (2007)

Operas:

1. Prince Igor (Borodin)
2. Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
3. Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin) (Glinka)

Requirements and Grading:

1. Short Essay (5pp)                      20%
2. Longer essay (10-12 pp)            30%
3. Final examination                       30%
4. Active enthusiastic participation 20%

Prerequisites

Upper Division Standing.

Course Description

This course introduces students to great short works of Russian literature, which similarly to the sprawling Russian novel possess a long and distinguished place in Russian literary history. Since the early nineteenth century, Russian writers have used the genres of short story and novella to create polished and brilliant gems demonstrating the possibilities of character development, narrative voice, plot, and the judicious exposition of ideas in compact prose. Over the course of the semester we will read a selection of works by Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Leskov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Babel, Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstaya, Pelevin, and others.  All readings and discussion are in Russian.

Requirements and Grading for Undergrad level

Several Short Response Papers (2-3 pp.): 30%

Midterm Paper: 30%

Final Paper: 30%

 For graduate credit, students are expected to read some works in Russian, discuss additional secondary sources, and write the short response papers in Russian.  In addition, they will be expected to do one class presentation and lead class discussion on a work of their choice.

Requirements and Grading for Grad level

Several Short Response Papers (2-3 pp.) in Russian: 30%

Midterm Paper: 20%

Final Paper: 30%

Class Presentation/discussion: 10%

Attendance and Participation: 10%

The problem of madness and insanity has preoccupied Russian writers and thinkers from the earliest days of Russia’s troubled history. In this course we will cover a broad range of works from medieval saints’ lives to post-modernist fiction to investigate the evolution of madness in Russian culture. The heroes of the novels and short stories we will explore range from holy fools to everyday madmen to chronically troubled spirits. The reading will include Pushkin’s Queen of Spades and Bronze Horseman; Gogol’s Overcoat and The Diary of a Madman, Dostoevsky’s The Double and Notes from the Underground, Leskov’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata, Chekhov’s The Black Monk and Ward No 6, Garshin’s, Red Flower, Nabokov’s Despair, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Erofeev’s Life with an Idiot and Pelevin’s Buddha’s Little Finger. We will also examine manifestations of fictional insanity in film, opera, and the visual arts. Readings and discussion in English. For graduate credit, students are expected to read some works in Russian, discuss additional secondary sources, and write the short response papers in Russian.  They will also attend a weekly graduate-only discussion section.

Prerequisites:  None

Readings: A. Pushkin’s Queen of Spades and Bronze Horseman; N. Gogol’s Overcoat and The Diary of a Madman, F. Dostoevsky’s The Double and Notes from the Underground, N. Leskov’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, L. Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata, A. Chekhov’s The Black Monk and Ward No 6, V. Garshin’s, Red Flower, V. Nabokov’s Despair, M. Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, V. Erofeev’s Life with an Idiot and V. Pelevin’s Buddha’s Little Finger.

Grading:

Short Response Papers (2-3 pp.) in Russian: 30%

Midterm Paper: 20%

Final Paper: 20%

Class Presentation: 20%

Class Attendance and Participation: 10%

Introduction to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through each of the major disciplines represented in the program: language, literature, anthropology, geography, history, government, sociology, and economics. Core course required for a degree in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. Meets with SLA 301 and GRG 309. May not be used to fulfill the foreign language requirement for any Bachelor’s degree. Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

Texts:

1.Slavenka Drakulic, 2005, They Would Never Hurt a Fly, Penguin

2. Heda Kovaly, 1997, Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968. New York: Holmes

and Meier

3. Brigid Pastulka, 2009, A Long Time Ago and Essentially True, Boston, New York,

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 

4. Bella Bychkova Jordan and Terry G Jordan-Bychkov, 2001, Siberian Village: Land and

Life in the Sakha Republic, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Additional readings might be recommended for individual lectures.

Requirements and Grading:

Attendance 10%

Participation in lectures 10%

Participation in book discussions 10%

Book quizzes 40% (each)

Course Description

This course introduces students to great short works of Russian literature, which similarly to the sprawling Russian novel possess a long and distinguished place in Russian literary history. Since the early nineteenth century, Russian writers have used the genres of short story and novella to create polished and brilliant gems demonstrating the possibilities of character development, narrative voice, plot, and the judicious exposition of ideas in compact prose. Over the course of the semester we will read a selection of works by Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Leskov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Babel, Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstaya, Pelevin, and others.  All readings and discussion are in Russian.

Requirements and Grading for Undergrad level

Several Short Response Papers (2-3 pp.): 30%

Midterm Paper: 30%

Final Paper: 30%

 For graduate credit, students are expected to read some works in Russian, discuss additional secondary sources, and write the short response papers in Russian.  In addition, they will be expected to do one class presentation and lead class discussion on a work of their choice.

Requirements and Grading for Grad level

Several Short Response Papers (2-3 pp.) in Russian: 30%

Midterm Paper: 20%

Final Paper: 30%

Class Presentation/discussion: 10%

Attendance and Participation: 10%

The Russians have been famously termed “wanderers in search of God’s truth”. In much of their literature there is a discernable thirst for another life, another world, a clear displeasure at what is. There is an eschatological directedness, an expectation that there will be an end to all that is finite, that a final truth will ultimately be revealed, that in the future an extraordinary event will take place. This new course will explore and analyze apocalyptic consciousness in Russian literature and culture from the Middle Ages to the present. Emphasis will be on such themes as the expectation of the end of the world, identification of the Antichrist, messianic prophecy and visions of an afterlife. Readings will include works of Gogol, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Bely, Merezhkovsky, Soloviev, Bulgakov, Makanin, and Tolstaya.

The graduate component of this class will involve an additional moderate amount of reading in Russian (for Slavic graduate students) or other apocalyptic traditions (for Comparative Literature graduate students).  Slavic graduate students will also be expected to write their response papers in Russian.  All graduate students will make brief presentations in class on an agreed upon topic of their choice depending on their individual interests.

Reading List: (These works are all available in the bookstore, on Blackboard or on Google Books)

D. Merezhkovsky, Peter and Alexei

A. Pushkin, Bronze Horseman

F. Dostoevsky, Demons

N. Gogol, Dead Souls

M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

V. Soloviev, Third Conversation and Short Story on the Antichrist

A. Bely, Petersburg

M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

T. Tolstaya, Slynx

V. Makanin, Escape Hatch

Description: 

The Russian novel represents one of Russia’s greatest contributions to world culture.  This course surveys classic authors as well as experimental works from the 19th through the 21st centuries.  Students in the course will deepen their understanding of the cultural context for Russian writers from Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy through Pelevin and Sorokin. They will gain familiarity with literary movements and genres including romanticism, realism, modernism, and the postmodern as they developed in Russia.  We will highlight issues including the relationship of Russia to the West, the question of national identity, and the complex relationship of literature to politics.

Readings:

M. Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time

I. Turgenev, Fathers and Sons

F. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

L. Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

A. Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

V. Pelevin, Yellow Train

T. Tolstaya, The Slynx

V. Sorokin, Ice

Grading:

 1. Attendance and Class Participation 10%

2. Response Papers 30%

3. Midterm Paper 30%

4. Final Paper 30%

Course Description

This course serves as an introduction to the exciting and exotic literature and culture of the medieval and early modern Russia.  Over the course of the semester, we will learn about all aspects of medieval Russian life, exploring important literary texts from Kievan and Muscovite Rus’ that reveal a vibrant and thriving literary and cultural community.  These texts include notable examples of historical writing, military tales, saints’ lives, homilies, adventure tales, biographies, polemical treatises, and miracle tales.  We will also devote time to the study of art and iconography, examining in particular regional differences in icon painting and other artistic production. In addition, we will watch several well-known Russian films and operas based on medieval historical subjects, such as Alexander Nevsky, Andrei Rublev, Ivan the Terrible, and Boris Godunov, and discuss how librettists, composers, directors, and screenwriters re-imagined medieval Russian culture in their own times.  All readings and discussion will be in English.

Prerequisites

Upper Division Standing.

Course Description

Introduction to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through each of the major disciplines represented in the program: language, literature, anthropology, geography, history, government, sociology, and economics.  Core course required for a degree in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. Meets with SLA 301 and GRG 309. May not be used to fulfill the foreign language requirement for any Bachelor’s degree. Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

Texts:

1. Slavenka Drakulic, 1992, How We Survived Communism and even Laughed, Harper-Collins.

2. Bella Bychkova Jordan and Terry G .Jordan-Bychkov, 2001. Siberian Village: Land and Life in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

3. Heda Kovaly, 1997. Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968. New York: Holmes and Meier.

4. Figer, Orlando. Natasha’s Dance.

Requirements and Grading

Map quiz: 5%

Participation: 5%

Essays (5-7 pages each) on books listed above: 20% each (60%)

(assignments will be distributed in class)

Final exam: 30%

Prerequsite

None

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