Results for SLAVIC

Who do we become when we live with strangers? How does it transform us -- for good or for ill -- to share our living space, our kitchens, our bathrooms? Can communal living show us how to transform society for the better, or indeed for the worse? Why have so many political, social, and spiritual self-styled revolutionary movements, from 1870s Paris to 1920s Moscow to 1960s San Francisco, so strongly emphasized radical changes in domestic life and the importance of collective living? In this course, we will examine utopian experiments in collective housing, both as forms of resistance and as environments that have themselves been resisted. Drawing from urban and social history, as well as literature, film, and other art forms, we'll explore the significance of how people live together, as well as the hostile reactions that utopian housing projects have often provoked. We'll also investigate sites of communal dwelling that are close to us in California (beyond Stanford's frosh housing). All readings will be in English.

Literally meaning "borderland," Ukraine has embodied in-betweenness in all possible ways. What is the mission of Ukraine in Europe and in Eurasia? How can Ukraine become an agent of democracy, stability, and unity? What does Ukraine's case of multiple identities and loyalties offer to our understanding of the global crisis of national identity? In this course, we will consider the historical permeability of Ukraine's territorial, cultural, and ethnic borders as an opportunity to explore the multiple dimensions of its relations with its neighbors. In addition to studying historical, literary, and cinematic texts, we discuss nationalism, global capitalism, memory politics, and propaganda in order to understand post-Euromaidan society. All required texts are in English. No knowledge of Ukrainian is required. NOTE: To satisfy a WAYS requirement, this course must be taken for at least 3 units.

The study of verse is foundational to literary theory and poetics. The practical goal of the course is to acquaint the students with specific features of Russian prosody and verse in its historical development and to survey such basic concepts as meter and rhythm, iamb and trochee, ternary meters and dolniks, accentual verse and free verse, rhyme and stanza in order to grasp their difference within Russian poetry from what we encounter in ancient Greek and Latin, as well as modern European literatures. The material of the course helps better understand the different stages in the history of Russian literature. We also address various approaches to poetry translation and the use of oriental verse forms (Persian, Japanese etc.) in Russian modern and modernist literature. Taught in English, readings in Russian. Prerequisite: Two years of Russian.

This course discusses the transition from predominately poetic to predominately prosaic creativity in the Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century Russian literature and the birth of the great Russian novel. It is focused on the peculiarities of poetics and narrative style in the literary works of three towering figures of the period in question - Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Nikolai Gogol -- and examines the changes in the Russian literary scene affected by them. An emphasis is placed on close reading of literary texts and analysis of literary techniques employed in them. We will discuss the various approaches and possibilities in presenting authorial positions and characterization in literature; ways of experimenting with narrative and playing with the reader; the creation of the historical and psychological novel and the use of different narrative devices for diverse artistic purposes. Taught in English.

How did the triumphant author of "the great American novel" "Lolita" evolve from the young author writing at white heat for the tiny sad Russian emigration in Berlin? We will read his short stories and the novels "The Luzhin Defense, Invitation to a Beheading, Lolita, Lolita" the film, and "Pale Fire", to see how Nabokov generated his sinister-playful forms as a buoyant answer to the "hypermodern" visual and film culture of pre-WWII Berlin, and then to America's all-pervading postwar "normalcy" in his pathological comic masterpieces "Lolita" and "Pale Fire". Buy texts in translation at the Bookstore; Slavic grad students will supplement with reading and extra sessions in original Russian.

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

Literally meaning "borderland," Ukraine has embodied in-betweenness in all possible ways. What is the mission of Ukraine in Europe and in Eurasia? How can Ukraine become an agent of democracy, stability, and unity? What does Ukraine's case of multiple identities and loyalties offer to our understanding of the global crisis of national identity? In this course, we will consider the historical permeability of Ukraine's territorial, cultural, and ethnic borders as an opportunity to explore the multiple dimensions of its relations with its neighbors. In addition to studying historical, literary, and cinematic texts, we discuss nationalism, global capitalism, memory politics, and propaganda in order to understand post-Euromaidan society. All required texts are in English. No knowledge of Ukrainian is required. NOTE: To satisfy a WAYS requirement, this course must be taken for at least 3 units.

Yiddish, a historic language of Ashkenazic Jews, is known as "Taytsh," literally the language of translation. In this class, we learn about the histories and theories of translation into and out of Yiddish. We will have visits from practicing Yiddish translators, and each student will select and complete a literary translation project, ideally eventually publishable. Requirement: one year of Yiddish study or equivalent.

Although three Eastern European Slavic-speaking countries - Ukraine, Belarus and Russia - coexisted as "union republics" in the Soviet Union and participated in the formation of Soviet literature, after 1991 their literary course took different directions. In all three cultures postmodernist poetry developed intensively due to the powerful unofficial culture in the late Soviet period. In Ukraine and Belarus, postmodern poetry has become a space for critical reflection on nation-building processes. In Russia, this poetry has largely become a space of resistance to the neo-Soviet narratives of hegemony and expansion propagated by Putin's regime. Students will study the aesthetics of postmodernism and the Eastern European contribution to postmodernist poetics and discuss the political significance of poetry in contemporary Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian societies. All assignments in English translation. Knowledge of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian is not required.

The country of Yugoslavia existed for less than a century, and in that brief time, it developed a novel socialist system and culture that decisively broke with Stalin's Soviet bloc; formed connections with India, Indonesia, Egypt, Ghana, and other countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America through the Non-Aligned Movement; and fostered some of the 20th century's most exciting and critical literature, cinema, philosophy, and art. For many observers, the legacy of Yugoslavia has been eclipsed by its violent end during the wars and genocide of the 1990s, but scholars identifying with "New Yugoslav Studies" increasingly reject the notion that ethno-nationalism and the destruction of socialist Yugoslavia are the only lens through which its significance ought to be viewed. Yugoslavia's end was no more preordained by fate than were its origins. In fact, Yugoslav literature, history, and culture provides some of the modern world's most gripping reflections upon freedom and self-determination, on both an individual and a collective scale. In this course, we will read literary masterpieces from both the short-lived interwar Kingdom of Yugoslavia (a.k.a. the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes) and the more long-lasting Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under Tito, as well as some more contemporary texts from post-Yugoslav states and writers from the former Yugoslav diaspora. Authors will include Miroslav Krleza, Ivo Andric, Mesa Selimovic, Danilo Kis, Miljenko Jergovic, Dubravka Ugresic, Masa Kolanovic, and more. Readings and discussion in English with optional Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian component for those who are interested.

The study of verse is foundational to literary theory and poetics. The practical goal of the course is to acquaint the students with specific features of Russian prosody and verse in its historical development and to survey such basic concepts as meter and rhythm, iamb and trochee, ternary meters and dolniks, accentual verse and free verse, rhyme and stanza in order to grasp their difference within Russian poetry from what we encounter in ancient Greek and Latin, as well as modern European literatures. The material of the course helps better understand the different stages in the history of Russian literature. We also address various approaches to poetry translation and the use of oriental verse forms (Persian, Japanese etc.) in Russian modern and modernist literature. Taught in English, readings in Russian. Prerequisite: Two years of Russian.

This course discusses the transition from predominately poetic to predominately prosaic creativity in the Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century Russian literature and the birth of the great Russian novel. It is focused on the peculiarities of poetics and narrative style in the literary works of three towering figures of the period in question - Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Nikolai Gogol -- and examines the changes in the Russian literary scene affected by them. An emphasis is placed on close reading of literary texts and analysis of literary techniques employed in them. We will discuss the various approaches and possibilities in presenting authorial positions and characterization in literature; ways of experimenting with narrative and playing with the reader; the creation of the historical and psychological novel and the use of different narrative devices for diverse artistic purposes. Taught in English.

How did the triumphant author of "the great American novel" "Lolita" evolve from the young author writing at white heat for the tiny sad Russian emigration in Berlin? We will read his short stories and the novels "The Luzhin Defense, Invitation to a Beheading, Lolita, Lolita" the film, and "Pale Fire", to see how Nabokov generated his sinister-playful forms as a buoyant answer to the "hypermodern" visual and film culture of pre-WWII Berlin, and then to America's all-pervading postwar "normalcy" in his pathological comic masterpieces "Lolita" and "Pale Fire". Buy texts in translation at the Bookstore; Slavic grad students will supplement with reading and extra sessions in original Russian.

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

Doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy, completed all required courses and degree requirements other than the University oral exam and dissertation, completed 135 units or 10.5 quarters of residency (if under the old residency policy), and submitted a Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee form, may request Terminal Graduate Registration status to complete their dissertations.