OVERVIEW

Russian literature from its origins to the age of the reforms of Alexander II

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).

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to reconstruct the essential stages of the development of Russian literary civilization in the time frame taken into account while deepening knowledge of the most significant works. At the end of the course the student will be able to conduct a critical reflection on each of the literary texts read and to set them in the context of the main historical-literary, ethical, political issues of Russia of the time. The student will have the necessary tools to read each text included in the program, bringing it back to a certain literary current, to identify the original elements both on the formal and on the content level and to appreciate both the relevance of each work in the Russian cultural and social scene of the time and its universal dimension. and its universal dimension.

TEACHING METHODS

Classroom lectures (36 hours).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course proposes to furnish students a general understanding of Russian literature from its origins to the mid 19th century and of the complex dynamics of its development. Discussions of literary history will be combined with the reading of literary texts authored by the most significant writers in the period. The course will also provide an overview of Russian literature from its origins to the 18th century. 

The program for both attending and non-attending students is the same.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books 

For the medieval literature: Excerpts from the following works:
Racconto dei tempi passati; Il cantare della schiera di Igor'; Afanasij Nikitin, Viaggio al di là dei tre mari; Avvakum, Autobiografia

For the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

• D. Fonvizin, Il minorenne (ediz.: D. Fonvizin, Il brigadiere. Il minorenne, Marsilio, Venezia 1991, pp. 183-341 (senza testo a fronte) 
• N. Karamzin, La povera Liza (ediz.: N. Karamzin, Settecento perduto. I racconti sentimentali, Genova 2004, pp. 25-41) 
• A. Radiščev, Viaggio da Pietroburgo a Mosca (solo i seguenti capitoli: La partenza, Ljubani, Zajcovo, Tver'. Edizione: G.M. Nicolai, Russia bifronte, Bulzoni, Roma 1990 o edizione: Voland, Roma 2006) 
• A. Griboedov, L'ingegno porta guai, (ediz. a cura di G. Gandolfo, Einaudi, Torino 1992, o altra edizione) 
• A. Puškin, Evgenij Onegin (qualsiasi edizione), I racconti di Belkin (qualsiasi edizione) 
• M. Lermontov, Un eroe del nostro tempo (qualsiasi edizione) 
• N. Gogol’, Come Ivan Ivanovič litigò con Ivan Nikiforovič (qualsiasi edizione), La prospettiva Nevskij (qualsiasi edizione)
• I. Turgenev, Padri e figli (qualsiasi edizione)

For the historical part:

• A. Ferrari, La Russia tra Oriente e Occidente. Per capire il continente-arcipelago, Edizioni Ares, Milano 1994, pp. 22-76. 
• L. Kochan, Storia della Russia moderna dal 1500 a oggi, Einaudi, Torino 1968, oppure R. Bartlett, Storia della Russia, Mondadori, Milano 2007 (limitatamente all’epoca trattata nel corso). 

Recommended criticism: 

• D.P. Mirskij, Storia della letteratura russa, Garzanti, Milano 1977 (limitatamente all’epoca trattata nel corso). 
• Storia della civiltà letteraria russa, v. 1, UTET, Torino 1997 (limitatamente all’epoca trattata nel corso). 
• Appunti delle lezioni e materiale distribuito durante il corso. 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARIO ALESSANDRO CURLETTO (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Second semester.

Class schedule

RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE I

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam. Students may take the exam in either Italian or Russian.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will consist of an oral exam on the course contents (evolution of literary culture, literary texts included in the course syllabus, their historical and cultural context, critical reflections on the texts). The exam will test whether or not students have actually read the literary texts found on the syllabus and will evaluate students' ability to offer a critical interpretation of these. The quality of students' exposition and the correct use of scholarly terms will be taken into consideration.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department's disability liaison.