Twentieth-Century Russian Literature: Fiction and Reality

Catalog description

This course is designed for students with native or near-native proficiency in Russian and is conducted entirely in Russian. The course introduces the major movements and figures of twentieth-century Russian and Soviet literature and culture. Through the exploration of the poetry of Mayakovsky, Blok, Gumilev, Mandelshtam, and Akhmatova, students will become familiar with the important literary movements of the Silver Age. The realities of the Soviet era will be examined in the works of Zamyatin, Babel, Bulgakov, and Zoshchenko, with a brief survey of the development of Soviet cinema. Literary trends in the later Soviet period will be examined through war stories, prison-camp literature, village prose, and the writings of women authors of that time. The course places particular emphasis on the interpretation of literary texts, class discussions, and presentations grounded in historical and cultural context. Prerequisite: Departmental placement testing required.