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Russian Literature in a Cultural Context
Spring 2012
University of Copenhagen & DIS – Danish Institute of Study Abroad
The course provides a general understanding of Russian culture and history through the lens of literature. Russian cinema and art will be studied alongside Russian literary masterpieces by authors such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Bulgakov and Brodsky, among others.
Classroom: F24-203 (Vestergade 23)
Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 11:40 – 13:00 and field studies/film screenings some Wednesdays (daytime) Tuesday and Thursday nights
Instructor: Jon Kyst - email kyst@hum.ku.dk
B.A. (Russian Language and Literature, University of Copenhagen, 1993) M.A. (Russian Language and Literature, University of Copenhagen, 1996) Ph.D. (English and Russian, University of Copenhagen, 2004). Exchange student, St. Petersburg State University 1993. Visiting Scholar, Columbia University, 2000-2004. Part-time lecturer, University of Copenhagen. Free-lance translator and interpreter. Director and partner, Akademisk Rejsebureau, Copenhagen. With DIS since 2003. DIS Russia study tour leader.
DIS contacts
Jakob Lorentzen, ECH Program Director, jlo@dis.dk Emily Smith, ECH Assistant, esm@dis.dk
Objectives
The aim of the course is to demonstrate how Russia is culturally different from the rest of Europe and the world.
This aim is achieved by reading and discussing Russian works of Russian literature and by learning about the cultural and historical context in which the works appeared.
By the end of the course the participants will have developed their skills in textual analysis and they will be able to provide informed answers to the question „What is Russia?‟, drawing on their knowledge of some of the most central works in Russia‟s literary and cultural heritage within the following four topic areas: Russia between East and West ; Dostoevsky’s spiritual novel ; What went wrong? Russia’s 20th^ century totalitarian heritage and What went well in Russia’s 20th^ century?
Content, readings and the class as a learning environment
The course is divided into four different topic areas central to the history of Russian literature and Russia‟s cultural history. Each topic area has its major focus on readings of literary texts. As the students discuss the texts in class, they are provided with theoretical and critical tools instrumental to understanding the literary works. To promote an understanding of the historical and cultural context specific to the Russian works studied, the course includes lectures on a series of topics in Russian cultural, as well as political and economic history. Apart from the Russian prose fiction and poetry, visual art, music and cinema are studied and discussed; both to support the literature read in class, but also as examples of Russian culture studied on a par with literature.
Students write four analytical papers that demonstrate the students‟ ability to incorporate theoretical and critical tools as well as knowledge of Russian culture and history in an analysis of literary texts, films and works of art studied in the class.
Course requirements
4 analytical papers (1,800-2,000 words each) 80 % (20 % each)
Participation 20 %
Grading, papers, plagiarism and students’ rights and obligations.
Grading follows the American ABCDF standard. A+ is not given. Grading does not follow a “curve.” This means that in theory, all students in the class can get an A for the class. All grades are used, including C‟s and D‟s. Consider “B” the grade given for an average performance.
Essays must be submitted on time printed, double-spaced, with word count and a list of works cited. Use MLA, Chicago or other standard formats. The professor is not obliged to read late papers and reserves the right to give an “F” grade for late papers. The professor is skilled and experienced in detecting plagiarism. If students are caught plagiarizing, they will fail the entire course. Please keep in mind that submitting papers already submitted in your home school or in Copenhagen, or parts thereof, is considered plagiarism on a par with copy/pasting from others‟ work. If you are in doubt whether you are plagiarizing or not, ask the professor before you hand in your paper.
The participation grade reflects the fact that the class is designed to be discussion-based. This means that students are expected to take a very active part in all discussions. The participation grade also reflects the student‟s preparation for class, and punctuality (not being late for class). Absence from the class not due to illness will affect the participation grade and can ultimately result in an “F” grade for participation.
The students have the right to receive timely and substantial feedback on their work in written form, especially work in progress. The students have the right to organize individual meetings with the professor to discuss any issue relevant for the learning process. The students have the right to meet with the professor prior to or during the process of writing papers. Finally, the students have the right to be informed about their expected participation grade during the semester and how it can be improved.
Study tour
Students are very much encouraged to participate in the optional study tour to Russia which is led by the professor and includes sights and discussion topics of very direct relevance for the course.
Readings:
Akhmatova, Anna. Poems (Binder)
Brodsky, Joseph. “A Guide to a Renamed City” (In Less Than One )
Brodsky, Joseph. “In a Room and a Half” (In Less Than One )
Brodsky, Joseph. Less Than One.
Brodsky, Joseph. Poems (Binder)
Bulgakov, Mikhail. The Master and Margarita.
Bulgakov, Mikhail. The Heart of a Dog.
Chaadaev, Petr. Philosophical Letters (Binder)
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground
Gogol, Nikolai. “Diary of a Madman” (In Plays and Petersburg Tales )
Gogol, Nikolai. “Nevsky Prospect” (In Plays and Petersburg Tales )
Course plan:
Topic area I: Russia between East and West
1. Thursday, 20 January
Pushkin, “Queen of Spades”
Screening of Tchaikovsky’s opera Pique Dame (excerpts)
Lecture: Pushkin: Russia‟s national poet
2. Monday, 24 January
Pushkin, ”The Bronze Horseman”
Lecture: Pre-Petrine and Petrine Russia
Wednesday, 26 January 13:00-17:
Film Screening: Brother
Room: Library Cinema
3. Thursday, 27 January
Brodsky, “A Guide to a Renamed City”
Lecture: Sight-seeing in St. Petersburg
4. Monday, 31 January
Lotman, “The Symbolism of St. Petersburg” (Binder)
Lecture: The St. Petersburg problem in Russian cultural history
5. Monday, 7 February
Gogol, “The Overcoat”
Lecture: Nikolai Gogol‟s life and time
6. Thursday, 10 February
Tiutchev, “Russia is a Thing of Which” (Binder)
Chaadaev, from “Philosophical Letters” (Binder)
Lecture: Russia’s national debates in the 19th^ century
7. Monday, 14 February
Gogol, “Nevsky Prospekt”
Lecture: Gogol‟s St. Petersburg
8. Thursday, 17 February
Gogol, “The Nose” and “Diary of a Madman”
1 st^ analytical paper due in class
Topic area II: Dostoevsky’s spiritual novel
9. Monday, 21 February
Dostoevsky, Notes From the Underground , Part I
Lecture: Dostoevsky‟s life and time
10. Thursday, 24 February
Dostoevsky, Notes From the Underground , Part II
Dostoevsky, “Winter Notes on Summer Impressions” (in Notes from the Underground )
Lecture: Dostoevsky and the West
11. Monday, 28 February
Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment , Parts I-II
Lecture: Dostoevsky‟s St. Petersburg
12. Thursday, 3 March
Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment , Parts III-IV
Frank, “The World of Raskolnikov” (567-77 in Crime and Punishment )
“Background and Sources” (467-82 in Crime and Punishment )
Lecture: Dostoevsky‟s gospel
13. Monday, 14 March
Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment , Part V-VI, “Epilogue”
Mikhail Bakhtin, “From Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics ” (643-55 in Crime and Punishment )
2 nd^ analytical paper due in class
Topic area III: What went wrong? Russia’s 20th^ century totalitarian heritage
14. Thursday, 17 March
Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog
Lecture: Culture I and II the cultural consequences of the the 1917 Revolution
Thursday, 17 March 18:00 – 21:
Film screening: Heart of a Dog
Room: Library Cinema
15. Monday, 21 March
Bulgakov, Master and Margarita, Part I
Lecture: Bulgakov‟s life and time
21. Monday, 28 April
Nabokov, Speak, Memory
Shklovsky, “Art as Technique”
Lecture: Russia‟s contribution to 20th^ century writing and literary theory
22. Thursday, 2 May
Nabokov, Speak, Memory
Lecture: Nabokov‟s cross-linguistic writing
23. Monday, 5 May
Brodsky, In a Room and a Half
Lecture: Life and culture under late Soviet socialism
4th analytical paper due on Monday , 9 May at 15:00 at the ECH office, Vestergade 5- 35
