RSS2090

Russian nineteenth-century literature and society

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

S M Vladiv-Glover

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton

Objectives On completion of the subject, students should have become familiar with major texts of the classical Russian literary canon and should be able to compare and contrast the dominant Russian aesthetics of the nineteenth century to the aesthetics prevailing in other European cultural traditions.

Synopsis An introduction to Russian culture and society in the nineteenth century through the study of literary texts against a background of Russian artistic and intellectual movements (realism, positivism and the `new' art at the end of the century). Slides, musical tapes and films make up an integral part of the subject. Texts are studied in English.

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 45%
* Seminar paper (1500 words): 25%
* Examination (1.5 hours): 30%

Prescribed texts

Chekhov A Three Sisters in Plays Penguin
Chernyshevsky N What is to be done? Vintage
Dostoevsky F M Notes from the underground Penguin
Goncharov I Oblomov Penguin
Pushkin A S Tales of Belkin
Turgenev I Fathers and sons Penguin
Tolstoy L The Power of Darkness in Plays by Leo Tolstoy tr. L A Maude, OUP