Study of the most significant figures and their works in European literary history, exclusive of English. The course aims to acquaint students with the classics in the literatures of Greece, Rome, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, and other countries in English translation. No knowledge of foreign languages required. Open to all students. Lecture. [H, V, W]
Study of the most significant figures and their works in European literary history, exclusive of English. The course aims to acquaint students with the classics in the literatures of Greece, Rome, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, and other countries in English translation. No knowledge of foreign languages required. Open to all students. Lecture. [H, V, W]
Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov. These are the titans of Russian literature, but also celebrated innovators in the broader landscape of world literature. This course introduces students to the major figures, trends, and historical contexts of 19th-century Russian literature, where literary experimentation, tense rivalries, and radical politics changed forever the future of Russian culture. We will examine periods of literary activity from Romanticism to the realist novel and end with Chekhov's mastery of the short story. [H, GM2, V, W]
This course offers a survey of 19th century to contemporary Russian literature. We will analyze texts published around the time of the Russian revolution, Stalin, the Cold War and finally Putin. Particular attention will be paid to the representation of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and political dissidents. In addition to learning about the aesthetic trends and innovations in Russian literature, we will explore literature's power to reflect social reality and to embody political protest. [GM2, H, W]
The aim of this culture survey is to introduce you to how the Soviets saw the West and the way the West -- Americans and Western/East-Central Europeans -- saw the Soviet Union. Cold War cultural hostilities, still very much a part of how the West perceives Russia today, have had a retroactively distorting effect on our understanding of what the Soviet-West encounter looked like prior to World War II. Intellectuals, writers, artists, and activists like Arthur Koestler, Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, Margaret Bourke-White, and John Steinbeck traveled to the USSR to see what this ''Great Experiment'' portended for the international leftist movement. Fellow travelers or card-carrying members of the Communist Party, these writers -- many of them African-American or suffering from gender discrimination -- were fascinated by the founding of a new state which claimed to have erased social and class difference in order to remake the world. This claim was of course not so simple; authoritarianism under Stalin, de-legitimized by its consequent show trials, executions, and GULAG sentences, embittered many leftists. We'll be working on answers to the following questions: What tools do we have to retrace and reconstruct this cultural movement toward a revisionist glimpse of the USSR? How did the Soviets themselves perceive the West, and later, Western antagonism, toward their ideology and cultural revolution? As we examine photo-journalism, travelogues, comics, and film on this encounter, the verb ''to see'' is meant to be taken literally and figuratively: how do members of these cultures imagine and intellectually conceive of one another? What is really behind the ''othering'' both the West and the Soviets committed against one another? What grey areas can we identify in this cultural meeting and what larger conclusions can we draw about cultural encounters? In textual works, such as fiction or memoirs, we will trace the construction and reconstruction of these cultural anxieties and outright stereotypes. Recent tensions between Russia and the West return to the Cold War era in tone and vitriol. Our task is to follow the inception of these trends in the Soviet period and, most importantly, to call into question the simplicity of the East/West dichotomy. [H, W, GM2]
This course explores the development of Chinese science fiction since the early twentieth century against a history of wars, reform and revolutions, and China’s rise as a great economy and
technological innovator in the world. With stories, novel excerpts, comic books, and films, we will examine the intersection of literature, science, empire and nation, modernity and modernization. This
course will be conducted in English in the form of lectures and discussions. [GM1, GM2]
An examination of Fyodor Dostoevsky's major novels and journalism in the context of his transnational legacy. We examine problems of reading Dostoevsky in the 21st century stemming from his Christianity, politics, and contribution to the global art of the novel. Of special consideration will be the texts and reception of two influential novels, Notes from the Dead House and The Brothers Karamazov. Key theoretical approaches to his work will be discussed. All readings in English. [H, V, GM2, W]
French cinematographers and their works have often stood in contrast to large-scale, epic Hollywood productions. This is not to say that the two traditions are totally distinct: cross-fertilization has occurred in both directions. The French have produced a number of cinematographic masterpieces, and many of their most successful films have been recast for an American audience. In this course, we will examine five distinct genres: 1) the French New Wave with films by Truffaut (The Last Metro), Rohmer (Claire's Knee), Godard (Breathless), and Lelouch (A Man and a Woman); 2) the French Film Noir, with films by Chabrol (The Butcher), Clouzot (Les Diaboliqies), and Malle (Elevator to the Gallows); the Historical Epic, with films by Rappeneau (Cyrano), Chereau (Queen Margot), Vigne (The Return of Martin Guerre); Comedies, with films by Veber (The Dinner Game), Serreau (Three Men and a Baby), and Jeunet (Amelie); and Political Films with films by Renoir (La Grande Illusion), Malle (Au Revoir les Enfants), and Resnais (Hiroshima Mon Amour). [H]
Study of a genre or special topic in foreign literatures in translation. Seminar content is broad in scope and may span several centuries. In addition to the literature, theoretical readings are discussed, and a final research paper is required.
This course is designed to give advanced students the opportunity to investigate intensively an area of special interest. Students are required to meet with the instructor periodically throughout the semester and to submit a scholarly paper, as well as to take an oral examination at the conclusion of the course.