Courses

Courses

Spring 2008 Courses

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022. "It Happens Rarely, Maybe, but it Does Happen"--Fantasy and Satire in East Central Europe
Raymond Miller T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55
Explores the fantastic in Russian and East European literature from about the 1830s into the late 20th century. Studies the origins of the East European fantastic in Slavic folklore and through the Romantic movement, and traces the historical development of the genre from country to country and era to era. Examines the use of the fantastic for the purpose of satire, philosophical inquiry, and social commentary, with particular emphasis on its critiques of nationalism, modernity, and totalitarianism. Authors to be read include Nikolai Gogol', Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Bulgakov, Karel Capek, Stanislaw Lem, and Franz Kafka.

102. Elementary Russian II
Jane Knox-Voina M 9:30 - 10:25, W 9:30 - 10:25, F 9:30 - 10:25
Continuation of Russian 101. Emphasis on the acquisition of language skills through imitation and repetition of basic language patterns; the development of facility in speaking and understanding simple Russian. Conversation hour with native speaker.

204. Intermediate Russian II
Raymond Miller M 10:30 - 11:25, W 10:30 - 11:25, F 10:30 - 11:25
A continuation of Russian 203. Emphasis on maintaining and improving the student’s facility in speaking and understanding normal conversational Russian. Writing and reading skills are also stressed. Conversation hour with native speaker.

223. Dostoevsky and the Novel
Jane Knox-Voina T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25
Examines Fyodor Dostoevsky’s later novels. Studies the author’s unique brand of realism (“fantastic realism,” “realism of a higher order”), which explores the depths of human psychology and spirituality. Emphasis on the anti-Western, anti-materialist bias of Dostoevsky’s quest for meaning in a world growing increasingly unstable, violent, and cynical. Special attention is given to the author’s treatment of urban poverty and the place of women in Russian society. Conducted in English.

310. Modern Russian Literature
Jane Knox-Voina
An introduction to twentieth-century Russian literature from Symbolism to Postmodernism. Reading of poetry by Blok, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Evtushenko, and Okudzhava, along with short prose by Zamiatin, Babel, Zoshchenko, Kharms, Shalamov, Aksenov, Shukshin, Petrushevskaya, Tolstaya, Ulitskaya, Sadur, and Pelevin. Close readings of the assigned works are viewed alongside other artistic texts and cultural phenomena, including the bard song, film, animation, conceptual and sots-art, and rock- and pop-music.