REEE 335 - Dostoevsky Is Not for Reading on the Beach: The 19th-Century Russian Novel

FC ARHU CD

4 credits
Nineteenth-century Russian literature, famous for its deep dive into metaphysical questions (God, freedom, suffering, death), was also the venue for debates on Russia’s national identity and future. In this seminar, we will explore major novels by three “literary giants” - Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov), Ivan Turgenev (Fathers and Children), and Ivan Goncharov (Oblomov). Critically (re)examining the philosophical and socio-political dimensions of their legacy, we will address problematic and controversial aspects of the Russian classics linking them to Russia’s tumultuous present. In English: primary texts accompanied by readings in literary criticism and theory.