News & Events

We are offering a New Course:
RUS 91-03 Strange Russian Writers - Sloane
J+ TR 3:00pm-4:15pm

Russia is a land of contradictions and Russian culture is an integral agglomeration of East and West with a religious heritage that embraced the primordial worship of Mother Earth, Byzantine Christianity, and the Jewish experience. Russians cherish their own truth about the world that baffles subtle European mores and the inconsistencies of American rationalism. The rebellious spirit of Russia resists authority and buries itself in hidden disobedience. Russians go to extremes. They are both regimented and anarchic, yet it is this contrast that brings out the great ingenuity of the Russian soul.

The aim of this new course is to bring out a philosophical understanding of the Russian people and the nations that populate Russia's soil, and to show how and why Russia in many ways is strange to westerners. Thus a broad selection of readings follows an eccentric path and underscores the topic of strangeness. Most of the texts are short--there are no long novels! The aim is to bring out a range of problems which hover around the Russian literary canon and its cultural heritage. Selections relate to Russian life and its diaspora in the West. Introduction to the Russian experience will include a historical background and a swath of smaller texts which will flesh out our discussions. Among the authors are: Avaakum, Odoevsky, Gogol, Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, Leskov (Lady Macbeth), Pilnyak (Mother Earth), Babel (Odessa Tales), A. Tolstoy (Aelita, orThe Decline to Mars), Nabokov (The Eye, Pnin), Platonov (Foundation Pit), Olesha (Envy), Kharms, Bulgakov (Fatal Eggs), T.  Tolstaya, Pelevin (Yellow Arrow). There will be three papers up to 6 pages each. No prerequisites. All readings are in English.

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