Results for SLAVIC

Why have verbal artists since Homer been fascinated with armed conflict and destruction? In the early 1990s, two self-consciously multinational and multicultural socialist states, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, broke apart. Soon, people who had lived in countries that proclaimed slogans like "friendship of the peoples" and "brotherhood and unity" were fighting wars with one another, incited by militant nationalism and dreams of conquest. Writers played an important role in these conflicts, usually not as frontline combatants (though it was a former poet who led the genocide in Bosnia) but rather because literature was called upon to explain the failures of the past and disasters of the present, to build up national identities that were newly autonomous yet under attack, or even to recreate a sense of multinational solidarity. In this class we will read literature connected to two wars in which smaller states have faced the violent designs of their more powerful neighbors: the invasion of Bosnia by Serbia (and Croatia) in the mid-1990s, and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Readings will include works by Miljenko Jergovi, Dubravka Ugrei, Saa Stanii, Serhiy Zhadan, and Andrey Kurkov, in English translation.

The turn of the 20th century was marked with turbulent political events and heated discussions about the future of Russian and American societies. Many writers and intellectuals responded to the burning issues of social justice, inequality, egalitarianism, and exploitation associated with capitalism and socialism. Through close reading, critical thinking, and analytical writing, we will engage in the critical discussions of class struggle, individual interest versus collective values, race, and social equality, and identify points of convergence and divergence between the two systems. To what extent was the opposition between capitalism and socialism fueled by the artistic vision of the great Russian and American writers? What was these thinkers' ideal of society and what impact did it have on shaping emerging socialism? Readings for the class include the fundamental works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Jack London, W.E.B. Du Bois and Sholem Aleichem. The course will culminate in a digital mapping project visualizing intellectual connections between ideas and writers.

(Same as HISTORY 20A. 120A is 5 units, 20A is 3 units.) The rise of Russian state as a Eurasian "empire of difference"; strategies of governance of the many ethnic and religious groups with their varied cultures and political economies; particular attention to Ukraine. In the Russian center, explores gender and family; serfdom; Russian Orthodox religion and culture; Europeanizing cultural change of 18th century.

We will read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky's culminating masterpieces closely, with an eye to the artistic originality and philosophical intensity with which they imbue their complex fictional worlds and passionately reasoning characters. Turgenev and Chekhov condense force and depth in short stories that offer a welcome counterpoint to the novels. Secondary sources encourage students from different fields to try out a variety of epistemological approaches.

A survey of Russian poetry from Lomonosov to Vladinmir Solov'ev. Close reading of lyrical poems. Prerequisite: 3rd Year Russian Language

Open to Russian majors or students working on special projects. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

What is the place of postmodernism in post-Soviet Ukraine and Russia? How do these historically related cultures respond to the post-Soviet transition? The course aims to answer the questions through close reading of the literary masterpieces of Ukrainian and Russian postmodernist writers: Andrei Kurkov, Yuri Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, Liudmila Ulitskaia, Victor Pelevin, Vladimir Sorokin and others. Slavic graduate students read texts in Russian, all other students - in English translation.

An emphasis is made on close reading of the poetry of Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetaeva and Vladimir Mayakovsky. Taught in Russian. Prerequisite: 3rd Year Russian Language

We will read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky's culminating masterpieces closely, with an eye to the artistic originality and philosophical intensity with which they imbue their complex fictional worlds and passionately reasoning characters. Turgenev and Chekhov condense force and depth in short stories that offer a welcome counterpoint to the novels. Secondary sources encourage students from different fields to try out a variety of epistemological approaches.

A survey of Russian poetry from Lomonosov to Vladinmir Solov'ev. Close reading of lyrical poems. Prerequisite: 3rd Year Russian Language

Open to Russian majors or students working on special projects. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

CPT course required for international students completing degree. Prerequisite: Slavic Languages and Literatures Ph.D. candidate.