Time Schedule:
Galya Diment
RUSS 120
Seattle Campus
Introduction to important issues in Russian literary and cultural history. Topics and instructors vary. Offered in English.
Class description
The course will focus on representations of romantic love as found in Russian literature and culture throughout the centuries, starting with Medieval Russia and ending in the contemporary, post-Soviet period. We will read true classics of Russian literature, such as Lev Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. We will also look at pictorial and cinematographic depictions of the themes of love and romance and focus on the ways in which the themes of joys, pains, and expectations of love and romance are presented by male writers and female writers writing during the same period. All readings, all discussions, and all other materials will be in English. No prior knowledge of Russian, Russian literature or history is required to take this course.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Lecture and Discussion
Recommended preparation
Open minds and desire to read
Class assignments and grading
Required Materials:
Karolina Pavlova, A Double Life (Bookstore) Lev Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (Bookstore) Alexandra Kollontai, A Great Love (Bookstore) Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago (Bookstore) Class Readings for Russ 120/Packet (Professional Copy, 42nd and University Way)
WEEK BY WEEK:
Week One: Romantic Love in Russian Folklore and Medieval Tales.
“Vasilisa the Beautiful” Tales From The Lay of Igor Campaign. XI. “Igor’s Wife Laments on the Walls of Putivl” “Peter and Fevronia of Murom” “Frol Skobeev, the Rogue.” (All in Russ 123 Class Readings/Packet)
Week Two: Seduced and Abandoned: Depictions of Tragic Love in the late 18th and Early 19th Centuries
Nikolai Karamzin, Poor Liza (Russ 123 Class Readings/Packet)
Karolina Pavlova, A Double Life.
Weeks Three, Four and Five: The Epic of Russian Passion and Betrayal
Lev Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Pictorial Depiction of Romantic Love in the 19th-Century Russia.
Week Six: Russian “Love” Stories (Short Stories, 19th Century and Early 20th)
Russian Literary Tradition of “First Love”:
Ivan Turgenev, “First Love”
Ivan Bunin, “Mitya’s Love,” “The Raven”
Isaac Babel, “First Love,” “Guy de Maupassant,” “My First Fee”
Pre-revolutionary Russian Films: “The Merchant’s Daughter” and “After Death.”
Russian Literary Tradition of “Mature Love”:
Anton Chekhov, “Lady with a Lapdog”
Ivan Bunin, “Sunstroke,” “In Paris.” (All in Russ 123 Class Readings/Packet)
Week Seven and Eight: Love and Russian Revolution
Alexandra Kollontai, A Great Love
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago.
Week Nine: Love, Post-Soviet Style
Tat’ana Tolstaya, “Okkervil River,” “Sweet Shura”
From: Balancing Acts: Contemporary Stories by Russian Women
Galina Scherbakova, “The Three Loves of of Masha Peredreeva”
Liudmila Petrushevskaia, “Our Own Circle.” (All in Russ 123 Class Readings/Packet)
Week Ten: Love in Soviet and Post-Soviet Film
“Bed and Sofa” (Room, 1926)
“Circus” (Alexandrov, 1936)
“Cranes Are Flying” (Kalatozov, 1960)
“Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” (Menshov, 1980)
“Little Vera” (Pichul, 1989)
“with Love, Lilia” (Sadilova, 2002).
Class participation (30%); take-home midterm (30%); take-home final (40%)
