In this course, we will read and analyze Russian prose, poetry and film of the second half of the 20th century and the first twenty years of the 21st century
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).
The course (A+B) will provide (1) a familiarity with the basic elements of literary and film text analysis. (2) a thorough knowledge of some significant works of the Russian twentieth century; (3) a general knowledge of the main characters and cultural facts of the period under examination. At the end of the course the student will be able to conduct a critical reflection on each of the literary and texts reviewed and to place it in the context of the main historical-artistic, ethical and political issues of the Soviet Union of the time. The student will have the necessary tools to read each text included in the program, by tracing it back to a particular literary or film movement, 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 Soviet cultural and social scene of the time and its universal dimension.
Classroom lectures.
This course has two parts: Course A and Course B. The program is the same for students who attend and for those who do not.
COURSE A (1st semester, 6 credits, 36 hours) is required of ALL students registered in this course.
COURSE B (2nd semester, 3 credits, 18 hours) is the continuation of Course A and is available ONLY to those students who need 9 credits (and who thus must also take Course A).
After Stalin's death in 1953, Soviet society enjoyed the first signs of liberalization. With the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party in 1956 and the beginnings of "Destalinization", it seemed that a new epoch had begun. After decades of closure, of caution in personal relationships and choreographed manifestations of institutionalized rejoicing, the population was finally allowed to socialize, to express itself more spontaneously, and to occupy "autonomously" the spaces designated for such activities: university lecture halls, theaters, even stadiums, but most of all, beginning on a humbler plane: houses, courtyards, city squares. The authorities encouraged this tendency, attempting to direct it towards well-defined goals, such as the renewed conquest of the Soviet countryside. The leaders in this rebirth were, understandably, members of the younger generation. Through the analysis of cinematographic and literary texts (novels, stories, songs), this course will attempt to reevoke the ideas, emotions, illusions and subsequent disillusionment of the brief epoch that terminated in the long Brezhnevian stagnation, however leaving to Soviet society an ideal and artistic legacy which, mutatis mutandis, would return to the fore in the mid-1980s with the prestrojka.
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COURSE A
TEXTS AND FILMS REQUIRED OF ALL STUDENTS - Updates and changes, if any, will be announced via Aulaweb.
Books
Films
COURSE B
Recommended criticism required for the exam
Ricevimento: The office reception time will be communicated at the beginning of the first semester. Online on the Teams platform, by appointment.
MARIO ALESSANDRO CURLETTO (President)
SARA DICKINSON
ANTONIO CIVARDI (Substitute)
COURSE A: first semester
Lessons start: September 30, 2024.
Class schedule:
Monday h 16-17 classroom C Polo Didattico via Fontane
Friday h 17-19 classroom D Polo Didattico via Fontane.
COURSE B: second semester.
RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE III
Oral exam. Students may take the exam in either Italian or Russian.
Students with 9 credits will have the option of taking a pre-exam for the first 6 credits of the course in January / February.
The exam will test whether or not students have actually read the literary texts and seen the films 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.
Attendance is strongly recommended.
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.
