OVERVIEW

This year-long nine-credit (54-hour) course is designed for students in the LCM program of the Department of "Lingue" or in the Department of "Lettere." The course will be held online during the first semester (3 hours per week); whether the course will be held online or in the classroom during the II semester (2 hours per week) has not yet been determined.

N.B. This is NOT the course for TTMI students (which will be held 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.

PREREQUISITES

none

TEACHING METHODS

This course will be held online during the first semester via Aulaweb, Teams, Zoom and/or Google Meet. During the second semester, the course will be held online or in the classroom (to be determined). Details and updates on the course as it evolves will always be on Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Course Title: Self Realization in 19th-Century Russia

In this course we will read and analyze various texts from 19th-century Russia, when Russian literature became internationally known. We will examine problems relating to the struggles of various literary characters who attempt to realize themselves and in so doing clash against the limits imposed upon them by the society of the time and its social practices. Of particular interest are themes such as: arranged marriage and other varieties of love; the relative weight of social estates and ranks; the importance of gender; the advantages of wealth, social connections, and education; morality and crime; the "judgment of high society." We will begin with women's writing and the "svetskaja povest'" (society tale) and conclude with a long novel by Dostoevskij.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

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

See the Italian version of the program. 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

SARA DICKINSON (President)

MARIO ALESSANDRO CURLETTO

LAURA SALMON (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The first week of the semester.

Class schedule

RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE II

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam may be taken in Russian, Italian, or English. To sign up for the exam, use the unige site.

The exam will test whether or not students have actually (and recently!) read the literary texts on the syllabus and will evaluate students' ability to offer a critical interpretation of these. The quality of the students' presentation of what their ideas and their correct use of relevant scholarly terms will figure into the grade.

Students will have the option of taking a partial exam (for six credits) at the end of the first semester. The exam will also be held in Jun/Jul 2021, Sept 2021, and Jan/Feb 2022), so please PLAN accordingly for your specific deadlines regarding travel (including Erasmus) or scholarships.

This program "expires" in February 2022. Students who have not passed the entire exam by that time will be examined on the course program for 2021-22.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Attendance is strongly recommended.

Students must follow the course on Aulaweb as well (for updates on the syllabus, the lectures, and the exam).