Listed in: Russian, as RUSS-317
Formerly listed as: FYSE-13 | FYSE-22 | RUSS-17
Stanley J. Rabinowitz (Section 01)
A course that examines the stories and novels of rebels, deviants, dissidents, loners, and losers in some of the weirdest fictions in Russian literature. The writers, most of whom imagine themselves to be every bit as bizarre as their heroes, include from the nineteenth century: Gogol (“Viy,” “Diary of a Madman,” “Ivan Shponka and His Aunt,” “The Nose,” “The Overcoat”); Dostoevsky (“The Double,” “A Gentle Creature,” “Bobok,” “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”); Tolstoy (“The Kreutzer Sonata,” “Father Sergius”), and from the twentieth century: Olesha (Envy); Platonov (The Foundation Pit); Kharms’ (Stories); Bulgakov (The Master and Margarita); Nabokov (The Eye, Despair); Erofeev (Moscow Circles); Pelevin (“The Yellow Arrow”). Our goal will be less to construct a canon of strangeness than to consider closely how estranged women, men, animals, and objects become the center of narrative attention and, in doing so, reflect the writer Tatyana Tolstaya’s claim that “Russia is broader and more diverse, stranger and more contradictory than any idea of it. It resists all theories about what makes it tick, confounds all the paths to its possible transformation.” All readings in English translation.
Though taught online, this course expects to engage students in rigorous and lively discussion, as we collectively explore the intricacies and challenges of the texts under consideration. Traditional office hours will be replaced by pre-arranged individual telephone conversations, where students can have the opportunity to discuss the three written assignments before submitting them.
Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Emeritus Rabinowitz
If Overenrolled: Majors receive preference. All other Amherst students are decided by lottery
Cost: $22.00 ?
Section 01
Tu 02:00 PM - 05:00 PM ONLI ONLI
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Diary of a Madman | Publisher & Copyright: | Gogol | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD | |
Foundation Pit | Publisher & Copyright: | Platonov | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD | |
Master & Margarita | Publisher & Copyright: | Bulgakov | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD | |
Notes from Underground | Publisher & Copyright: | Dostoevsky | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD | |
Portable 20th c. Russian Reader | Publisher & Copyright: | Brown | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD | |
Yellow Arrow | Publisher & Copyright: | Pelevin | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD | |
Despair | Publisher & Copyright: | Nabokov | Comment: | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.