The module focuses on key texts from the 19th century Russian literature, which is otherwise known as the Golden Age of Russian novel. In the course of the module, students will read in translation and critically engage with such novels as Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Chekhov's Cherry Orchard. The module will introduce students to recent scholarship on the Russian classics and provide them with the opportunities to examine the themes of nationalism, imperialism, westernisers/slavophiles, 'superfluous men' and decolonisation.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
outline the main political, historical and cultural debates of the 19th century and discuss them as they are portrayed in the discussed novels in light of up-to-date critical secondary literature;
research limited pre-defined questions using secondary literature and present findings in written form;
identify key stylistic and thematic features of the novels;
discuss the approach of different authors to similar situations or problems;
place specific works in their literary, cinematic (when appropriate), historical and societal contexts.
outline the main political, historical and cultural debates of the 19th century and discuss them as they are portrayed in the discussed novels in light of up-to-date critical secondary literature;