OVERVIEW

The 6-credit version of this course (first semester) is for TTMI students and for students from "Lettere" who are taking the 6-credit course; it also comprises the first part of the longer 9-credit course that is aimed at LCM students and those students from Lettere taking the 9-credit course. This longer 9-credit version also includes 18 hours of lectures in the second semester.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Our first-year course introduces students to Russian literature and culture from its medieval origins to the mid 1800s; in the second year, students focus more specifically on problems of literary style and evolution by examining texts from the 19th and 20th centuries that are linked by a particular theme; students who take the third-year course will go still more deeply into the literature and culture of a more specific historical period (such as the first half of the 20th century or The Thaw).

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course aims to provide students (1) familiarity with some of important 19th-century Russian writers; (2) thorough knowledge of some of their important works; (3) the basic tools of literary analysis; (4) general knowledge of the main cultural figures and events from the period in question.

TEACHING METHODS

The course content will be delivered via classroom lectures with the support of Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Course title: “Love and Destiny in 19th-Century Russia"

We will read and analyze various texts from 19th-century Russia, when Russian literature became internationally known. We will explore the theme of love (impossibile, illicit, imaginary, obsessive, forced, inexistent) and its fortunes -- together with the still greater problem of self-realization -- in that era. Through the study of texts by noted writers such as Rostopčina, Gan, Turgenev, Leskov, Dostoevskij, Tolstoj and Čechov, we will investigate the evolution of literary characters and plots that struggle against the limits imposed upon them by the society of the time: social and matrimonial practices, the weight of social position (class, rank, wealth, education), the importance of gender.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

THIS READING IS NOT "RECOMMENDED": IT IS MANDATORY!

See the Italian version of the program. 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARIO ALESSANDRO CURLETTO (President)

SARA DICKINSON (President)

LAURA SALMON (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The week of October 16, 2017. 

Class schedule

RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE II

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written exam will last 3 hours. Students taking the 9-credit version of the course who wish to complete the exam for the first 6 of their 9 credits will have the opportunity to do so in January/February 2018. 

The exam may be taken in Russian, Italian, or English. It will be held ONLY 5 times a year (twice in Jan/Feb, twice in Jun/Jul, ONLY once in Sept/Oct) so please PLAN accordingly for your specific deadlines regarding travel (including Erasmus) or scholarships.

This program "expires" in February 2019. Students who have not passed the exam by that time will be examined on the course program for 2018-19.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Attendance is strongly recommended.

Students should register for the course also on Aulaweb (which will be fundamental for updates).