OVERVIEW

This 9-credit 54-hour course will be taught over the course of two semesters; it is aimed at Master’s students from the LM37 program and available to others as an elective. The course will begin in November and the first semester will taught together with 117908; the second semester will be dedicated exclusively to the first-year students.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course delves into specific moments and issues of Russian-speaking literature and culture in relation to the European cultural and literary context and provides students with the necessary tools for reading in the original language and analyzing texts of different kinds (with particular focus on literary texts), as well as, through supplementary seminar-style teaching activities, experience in carrying out individualized research projects.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course provides (1) thorough knowledge of a single novel that was fundamental for the story of Russian culture in the context of its radicalization in the 1860s; (2) familiarity with a single author fundamental for the story of Russian and world culture; (3) familiarity with diverse critical approaches to the novel and to the author in question and to ways of thinking about these; (4) knowledge of gender themes in the same era, (5) an introduction to the amazing development of Russian and Russophone literature and culture from the end of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th, (6) a general understanding of combination of breaks and continua that late-19th- and early 20th-century cultural developments represented, together with a broad cultural awareness capable of linking these cultural developments to the general historical and socio-political context, (7) an introduction to changes in literary and cultural fields that result from Bolshevik and Stalinist policy, (8) familiarity with specific Russophone artists and their work, both in Russian and translation, (6) an introduction to research methods and techniques in the field of Russian cultural studies through participation in individual projects.

PREREQUISITES

This course requires familiarity with the Russian language for Masters’ students of Russian, but is also available to others who do not know Russian as an elective.

TEACHING METHODS

This course will be conducted in person and in Italian. Students who are unable to attend regularly from the beginning of the course on November 9 should contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Students must register for the course on Aulaweb in order to keep informed both via automatic notifications and posts regarding updates, materials, and details on the course syllabus, lectures, and the exam. N.B. If your name does not appear in the list of "participants", you are not yet signed up and will not receive any notifications.

Students are also requested to join the Team for the course, using the code available on Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Course title: “A CENTURY OF UPHEAVAL”

This course examines various periods of Russian and Russophone culture from the 1860s to the period of its richest flowering in the first few decades of 20th century. Beginning in the mid 19th century, the increasingly rapid advance of modernity was accompanied by dizzying speed in the arts, exemplified by marvelous inspiration and invention in an attempt to keep up with the times. On the background of events such as the rise of radicalism and then the 1905 Revolution, World War I, the 1917 Revolution, the Civil War, and the establishment of the new Soviet state, we will first examine Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel “The Possessed” (1873) as a commentary on social and political change, and then explore the outcomes of the subsequent “explosion” in various fields, including prose, poetry, painting, music, and cinema. The course will focus in particular on those artistic experiments that sought to overturn previous tradition, on the invention of cinema, on arts made to serve the causes of the Future and of the Revolution, as well as on Soviet and Stalinist pressures that greatly slowed innovative processes, without, however, stopping them entirely.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

(N.B. Despite the title of this section, the reading is not “recommended”, but mandatory!)

Further details on the selections may be found on Aulaweb.

TEXTS

FOR READING

Riasanovsky, Nicholas. “A History of Russia” (selected pages)

I semestre: Dostoevskij, Fedor. “The Possessed” (Бесы, 1873)

(if in Italian, the translation of Mirco Gallenzi, published by Oscar Mondadori )

II semestre: Gor’kij, “Twenty-six and one” (Двадцать шесть и одна, 1899)

Chodasevič, “The Monkey” (Обезьяна, 1919)

Cvetaeva, selected poetry

Blok, “The Twelve” (Двенадцать, 1918)

Blok, “The Scythians” (Скифы, 1918)

Zamjatin, “The Cave” (Пещера, 1920)

Achmatova, “All Is Ravaged...” (Всё расхищено..., 1921)

Majakovskij, selected poetry

Platonov, “The River Potudan” (Река Потудан, 1936)

FOR VIEWING/LISTENING

Selected paintings

Selected cinematic works (by directors such as Kulešov, Ejzenštejn, Vertov, Pudovkin)

Selected excerpts of music, opera, and ballet (by composers such as Čajkovskij, Musorgskij, Chačaturjan, Prokof’ev, Šostakovič)

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

SARA DICKINSON (President)

MARIO ALESSANDRO CURLETTO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Monday November 9, 2026 for the students of the 1st year. If you have not yet passed the test for the LM, come anyway!!

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam and written exam at the end of the course. The completion of homework assignments during the course may reduce the size of the final exam (see below).

This course is conceived as a laboratory that requires the active participation of the students. Those who participate regularly will have a reduced final exam. “Participate regularly” means (1) attending at least 75% of the classes (25 ore), (2) completing the assignments (whether individual or group) in an adequate and timely manner (before September 15, 2026), including one or more written assignments and/or an oral presentation. The assignments will be explained in class and on Aulaweb and completed, in part, together.

Students who attend less than 70% of the course but are still able to complete the assignments as above will have a somewhat reduced exam. Students who attend at least 70% of the course but are unable or unwilling to complete the projects assigned have two options: (a) discuss their individual situation with the instructor in order to understand if other “discounts” or extensions are possible (if the problem is deadlines); (b) take the full final exam; and/or (c) take the exam with a different program the following year.

Exams will be held in June/July 2027 and September 2027, after which time students may take the exam by appointment. Students who do not pass the exam by February 2028 will need to move to the syllabus for 2027/28.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Students may sign up for the exam on the Unige site. The exam may be taken in Russian, Italian, or English. The exam will test general knowledge of the historical context, the students’ reading of the texts on the syllabus, and their ability to offer a critical interpretation of these. Students are advised to read attentively and to formulate their own opinion on the material. The quality of the students’ self-expression in presenting their ideas and their correct use of relevant scholarly terms will figure into the grade.

FURTHER INFORMATION

ATTENDANCE: Strongly recommended – and students who attend regularly will have more options on the exam.

DISABILITY: Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and/or exams in this course or in general, should speak with the instructor, who is also the Department’s disability liaison.