Literature and Revolution
 Tradition, Innovation, and Politics in 20th-Century Russian Culture
 

Russian V3221
Spring 2008

TR 1:10-2:25

225 Milbank

Prof. Rebecca Stanton

226A Milbank, x4-3313
rstanton [at] barnard [dot] edu
Office hours: Thurs. 3-5 and by appt.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides a “big picture” survey of Russian literature and culture from pre-Revolutionary Symbolism to the culture of high Stalinism and beyond. While it is primarily a literature course, and our chief focus will necessarily be the analysis of texts, we will consider our texts against the background of their cultural and political environment, complementing them with works from the visual and musical arts. Among the questions we shall ponder are the following: how did Russian writers respond to their changing political context in the 20th century? In what ways are the artistic traditions of the Russian 20th century continuous with those of the 19th, and in what ways do they break away from the legacy of the 19th century greats (Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky...)? What relationships existed between folk culture, mass culture, and “high” culture in 20th-century Russia?

Please note that some of the reading assignments will be on the heavy side (i.e, over 100pp. per class session); look ahead, and plan accordingly. To reward you for keeping up-to-date with the reading, your ongoing participation in classroom and online discussions (see below) has been weighted to account for 50% of your final grade. Please also note that this class is discussion-based. Your opinions are not only welcome; they are positively required.

The musical and visual components of the course will be played/shown in class. An archive of these materials will also be available on the course website at http://russian.psydeshow.org/.


REQUIREMENTS:
Participation in classroom and online discussions 50%
Midterm 20%
Final 30%

ABOUT ONLINE DISCUSSIONS
Over the course of the semester, you must contribute substantively to at least 20 of the online discussions at the class blog, http://russian.psydeshow.org/ , which will take place before each class. (This means you should plan on participating before every class, but you can skip up to 6 times without penalty.) Your contributions should average about 150-200 words (less than a page), although extreme concision, as well as the occasional 300-word burst of enthusiasm, are welcome. Your contribution may be a provocative question or questions; a response to questions posted by another student (or by the instructor); a defense or rebuttal of a position taken by another student (remember to be respectful in dissent); or an analysis of a particular passage or moment in the text that seems significant to you. Please read any contributions that have been posted by your classmates before adding your own. The deadline for contributing to the discussion is NOON on the day of class. The blog is password-protected; for reasons that will become apparent by April, the username is zhivago and the password is lara.

To receive full credit, your contribution should be thoughtful, specific, and explicitly linked to a particular passage or passages in the text(s) being discussed (give page numbers where appropriate).

BOOKS
The following books have been ordered into Book Culture ( 112 th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam):

  • Andrei Bely, Petersburg ( Indiana UP)
  • Isaac Babel, Red Cavalry and Other Stories (Penguin)
  • Yevgeny Zamiatin, We (Eos)
  • Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita (Vintage)
  • Vladimir Nabokov, The Gift (Vintage)
  • Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago (Pantheon)
  • Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
  • Venedikt Erofeev, Moscow to the End of the Line (Northwestern UP)

All other readings (marked with an asterisk in the schedule) will be included in a course reader, which will be available for purchase in the Barnard Slavic Dept. second week of the semester.

SCHEDULE

Date
Topics and Readings
 
January
 		  
 
Tu 22
 		 Introduction
The broad trajectory of Russian literature and culture in the 20 th century; introduction to the course and its aims.
 
 
 		 I. A city of symbols and its demise: revolutionary Peterburg (1905-1917).
 
Th 24
 		 Andrei Bely, Petersburg, pp. 1-96
 
Tu 29
 		 Petersburg , pp. 97-216 (big assignment; plan ahead!)
Music: Tchaikovsky, The Queen of Spades (Act II, Scene 3)
Visual Arts: early Malevich, Rozanova (Cubist cityscapes)
 
Th 31
 		 Petersburg , pp. 217-293.
 
February
 		  
 
Tu 5
 		 *Aleksandr Blok, The Twelve.
Music: Stravinsky, Petrouchka (Parts 1-2)
Visual Arts: Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova
 
Th 7
 		 *The Futurists: short poems and manifesti (excerpts)
*Background reading: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian Futurist writings (excerpts)
Music: Stravinsky, The Rites of Spring [excerpts]
Visual Arts: Malevich (suprematist paintings), Kandinsky (abstract compositions), abstract Cubism
 
 
 		 II. Realism with prefixes: from avant-garde to the Stalinist Utopia (1917-1940).
 
 
Tu 12
 		 (a) Exploring existential frontiers: expressionist montage.
Isaac Babel, Red Cavalry (assignment TBA)
Music: Shostakovich, From Jewish Folk Poetry
Visual Arts: Mark Chagall
 
Th 14
 		 Red Cavalry , cont.
 
 
Tu 19
 		 (b) Road check on the way to Utopia: NEP modernism.
Yury Olesha, Envy, Part One*
Visual Arts: Kandinsky, theories of color; objective Cubism (Malevich, Knife Grinder; Filonov, Victory over Eternity).
 
Th 21
 		 Envy , Part Two*
 
 
Tu 26
 		 (c) In the wake of the Utopia: surrealism.
Evgeny Zamiatin, We, Ch. 1-23
 
Th 28
 		 We , cont.( Ch. 24-end).
Visual Arts: Malevich, late works; Constructivism; contemporary speculative visual culture (Aelita, Queen of Mars).
 
March
 		  
 
 
Tu 4
 		 (d) In a strange world: fantastic realism.
Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita, pp. 3-132 (big assignment; plan ahead!)
 
 
Th 6
 		 The Master and Margarita , pp. 133-200
Music: Shostakovich, The Nose (excerpts)
 
Tu 11
 		 The Master and Margarita , pp. 201-337 (big assignment; plan ahead!)
 
Th 13
 		 Midterm exam
 
15-22
 		 SPRING BREAK
 
 
Tu 25
 		 (e) The jester’s response: satire and absurdism.
*Daniil Kharms, selections from Incidences.
*Mikhail Zoshchenko, short stories: “Nervous People,” “The Lady Aristocrat,” “The Bathhouse,” “The Galosh,” “The Pushkin Centennial.”
Music: Shostakovich, “Anti-Formalist Rayok”
 
 
Th 27
 		 III. Beyond the Utopia: writing in external and internal exile (1934-1970).
(a) Realism without reality.
Vladimir Nabokov, The Gift, Preface and Ch. 1.
 
April
 		  
 
Tu 1
 		 The Gift , Ch. 2-3 (big assignment; plan ahead!)
Visual Arts: Marianna von Werefkin; late Kandinsky
 
Th 3
 		 The Gift , Ch. 4-5 (big assignment; plan ahead!)
 

Tu 8
 		 (b) Triumph of materialism and disappearance of the material.
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago, Ch. 1-4 (pp. 3-128) = 126 pages
Music: Medtner, Violin Sonata No. 1 in B minor, Op. 21; Tchaikovsky, Piano Trio
 
Th 10
 		 Doctor Zhivago , Ch. 5-7 (pp. 131-253) = 122 pages
 
 
Tu 15
 		 Doctor Zhivago , Ch. 8-13 (pp. 254-418) = 164 pages (plan ahead!)
 Music: Shostakovich, Piano Trio (3 rd mvt.)
 
Th 17
 		 Doctor Zhivago , Ch. 14-17 (pp. 419-559) = 140 pages.
 

Tu 22
 		 (c) The Thaw.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (assignment TBA)
 
Th 24
 		 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich , cont.
 

Tu 29
 		 (d) Return of the jester (1970s)
Venedikt Erofeev, Moscow to the End of the Line, pp. 11-91.
Visual Arts: Komar and Melamid.
 
May
 		  
 
Th 1
 		 Moscow to the End of the Line , p. 91-end; wrap-up and conclusion.
 
…………
Tu 13
 		 …………………………….
FINAL EXAM, 1:10-4PM
 

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