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 largely from the 19th century; students who take the third-year course or Russian Literature in the M.A. program will go still more deeply into the literature and culture of a more specific historical period (such as the 1920s or the Thaw).

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course will provide students (1) familiarity with the basic tools of literary analysis; (2) a thorough knowledge of several works by Lev Tolstoy with their themes and problems; (3) an introduction to problems linked to the formation of a writer; (4) familiarity with the technique of ostranenie (defamiliarization).

TEACHING METHODS

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

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

We will examine in detail some of Lev Tolstoj's stories and short novels in the context of his life, his thought and his century: his technique of auto-analysis, his use of the Crimea and Caucasus (familiar to him from his personal experiences) as literary backdrops, his interest in the figure of the Other; the Tolstoyan approach to moral and existential problems, together with its contradictions.

The second semester, for students taking 9 credits, will be dedicated to the novel Anna Karenina.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The necessary texts will be available in the copy shop (NonSoloCopie halfway up via Balbi) and/or in various libraries, bookstores and online. NB. Insofar as these are classic texts, they are available in multiple editions, both in Russian and in translation and you are free to choose what you prefer. Obviously, students who can read Russian are encouraged to do so; others are encouraged to compare passages from their translations with the Russian source text.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - for alterations in the program, see AULAWEB!!! 

Tolstoj, selection from "The Diaries" (gli anni 1847-1851) – NonSoloCopie

Viktor Šklovskij, “Art as Device” – NonSoloCopie, pp. 16-23 (in Italian).

Tolstoj, Childhood” (1852) 

Tolstoj, "The Raid” (1853) – NonSoloCopie, circa 30 pp.

Tolstoj, “The Sevastopol Stories” (1855-56)

Tolstoj, “The Cossacks” (1863)

Tolstoj, “The Death of Ivan Ilič” (1886)

Tolstoj, “Father Sergius” (1898)

Tolstoj, "The Devil” (1889, 1909) 

Further reading – on Tolstoj's era in generale:

Nicholas V. Riasanovsky, History of Russia (relevant pages)

Roger Bartlett, History of Russia (relevant pages)

on Tolstoj in general (ask the instructor for similar recommendations in English):

Ettore Lo Gatto, Profilo della letteratura russa dalle origini a Solženicyn (Mondadori, 1975), pp. 221-42, 258-76.

Marija Pljuchanova ,“Tolstoj”, in AA.VV., Storia della civiltà letteraria russa (Utet, 1997), pp. 690-721.

Dmitrij Mirskij, Storia della letteratura russa (Garzanti, 1995), pp. 217-32, 250-72.