RUSS 215 - The Meaning of Life: Dispatches from Nineteenth-Century Russia

Next Offered: 2009-2010
Semester Offered: TBA
Credits (Range): 3 Hours
Attribute: 3 HU, CD, WR

Life was grim in nineteenth century Russia! Faced with an oppressive political system, overwhelming evidence of suffering, poverty, and appalling ignorance, the imperfectability of human nature and the messiness of personal relationships, and, finally, the specter of death, Russian writers had ample opportunity to ponder the meaning – and meaningless – of existence. Their attempts to grapple with the “cursed questions” of life gave rise to an extraordinarily rich existentialist tradition. Drawing on classic works by Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and others, the course will take a sane, upbeat, and irreverent approach to some timeless and very serious issues.
Instructor: T. Newlin