Postgraduate Course: The Great Russian Novel (ELCR11004)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course facilitates a critical engagement with the Russian novel of the 19th century. In 19th century Russia, the novel, both as an art form and an expression of the human condition reached as extraordinary level of development within a very short space of time. Whilst the remarkable works of fiction produced in this period form a unique picture of a society in a period of rapid change and flux, they are much more than this - they belong rightly to world literature and they have long been regarded as amongst the finest in their genre as well as pushing further the boundaries of the genre.
Following the brief 'Golden Age' of Pushkin and his gifted contemporaries, there emerged in rapid succession the disparate and remarkable talents of Gogol, Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. The course will study selected works by these authors while paying particular attention to how in the absence of recognizable civil institutions in Russia, the novel and its associated body of literary polemics became the focal point for a debate about the whole range of human experience. Emphasis will be given to the role of the writer, the novels' reflection on development of Russian society and the place of Russia in the world. |
| Course description |
The course comprises a detailed study of the novels penned by Pushkin, Gogol, Goncharov, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, including "Eugene Onegin", "Dead Souls", "Oblomov", "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Devils" and one chapter from "The Brothers Karamazov" (The Great Inquisitor).
The course also incorporates some important secondary sources and teaches students to apply different approaches to the novels scrutinised in the course. Therefore it provides a good opportunity to students to apply different skills to their analysis and close reading of the novels. It complements other courses offered by MSc in Comparative literature programme that focus on literary theory and research methods.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Some texts can be purchased. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay -- 4 000 words. |
| Feedback |
Students will receive ongoing informal feedback on their engagement with readings in seminars.
For student essay outlines students will receive written feedback within 2 weeks. Student essays will receive detailed written feedback on their return of grades, within the schedule set out by the School.
Students are encouraged to consult with staff on essay choice and research as well as on secondary sources and library holdings.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- read and criticise complex theoretical texts and arguments
- acquire a critical vocabulary for the analysis of literary texts
- possess a broad understanding of the main trends in Russian and European 19th-c. thought along with some knowledge of the relevance of 19th-c. ideas and literary experiments for 20th-c. literature and literary theory in Russia and in the West
- read further and more widely in literary and cultural theory, having gained the requisite background knowledge and critical vocabulary
- to show a good understanding of and apply competently complex conceptual frameworks
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Reading List
Emerson, Caryl. Introduction to Russian Literature, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2008.
Selected Bibliography:
1. Bayley, John. Pushkin: A Comparative Commentary. Cambridge, 1971.
2. Bayley, John. Tolstoy and the Novel. London, 1966.
3. Berlin, Isaiah. Russian Thinkers. Harmondsworth, 1978.
4. Bethea, David M., ed. Puskin Today. Bloomington, 1993.
5. Briggs, A. D. P. Alexander Pushkin: Eugene Onegin. Cambridge, 1992.
6. Christian, R. F. Tolstoy: A Critical Introduction. London, 1969.
7. Diment, Galya. Goncharov's "Oblomov" A Critical Companion,
Evanston, Ill. : Northwestern University Press : American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East
European Languages, 1998.
8. Debreczeny, Paul. The Other Pushkin: A Study of Alexander Pushkin's Prose Fiction. Stanford,
1983.
9. Eikhenbaum, Boris. Lermontov: A Study in Literary-Historical Evaluation. Ann Arbor, 1981.
10. Fanger, Donald. The Creation of Nikolai Gogol. Cambridge (MA), 1979.
11. Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849. Princeton, 1976. 12. Frank, Joseph.
Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859. Princeton, 1983.
13. Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865. Princeton, 1986.
14. Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1866-1870. Princeton, 1995.
15. Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881. Princeton, 2002.
16. Frank, Joseph. Through the Russian Prism. Princeton, 1991.
17. Gustafson, Richard. Leo Tolstoy: Resident and Stranger. Princeton, 1986.
18. Hasty, Olga Peters. Pushkin's Tatiana. Madison, 1999.
19.Heldt, Barbara. A Terrible Perfection. Bloomington, 1987.
20. Hoisington, Sona Stephan, ed. A Plot of Her Own: The Female Protagonist in Russian Literature.
Evanston, 1995.
21. Hoisington, Sona Stephan, ed. & trans. Russian Views of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin.
Bloomington,
1988.
22 Leighton, Lauren. The Esoteric Tradition in Russian Romantic Literature: Decembrism and
Freemasonry. University Park, PA, 1994.
23. Maguire, Robert A. Exploring Gogol. Stanford, 1994. 27. Maguire, Robert A., ed. Gogol from the
Twentieth Century. Princeton, 1974.
24. Mirsky, D. S. A History of Russian Literature. Evanston, 1999 [1958].
25. Moser, Charles A., ed. Cambridge History of Russian Literature. Cambridge, 1992.
26. Nabokov, Vladimir. Eugene Onegin (rev. edn., 2 vols.). Princeton, 1975.
27. Nabokov, Vladimir. Lectures on Russian Literature. New York, 1980.
28. Nabokov, Vladimir. Nikolai Gogol. Norfolk, 1944.
29. Riha, Thomas, ed. Readings in Russian Civilization (rev. edn.), vol. 2. Chicago, 1969.
30. Terras, Victor. A History of Russian Literature. New Haven, 1991.
31. Todd III, William Mills. Fiction and Society in the Age of Pushkin. Cambridge, MA, 1986.
32. Wigzell, Faith. Reading Russian Fortunes: Print Culture, Gender, and Divination in Russia from 1765. Cambridge, 1998.
many journals and articles are available through the Central Library's databases: JSTOR and Project Muse.
In addition the library has access to electronic version of such useful journals as "The Slavonic and East European Review"; "The Russian Literature"; "Slavonica"; "The Russian Review" and "Modern Languages Review". |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will enhance their skills related to literary analysis and critical thinking, as well as their ability to work in the are of comparative studies. |
| Special Arrangements |
Jointly taught with undergraduate students (ELCR10002) |
| Study Abroad |
n/a |
| Keywords | GRN |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alexandra Smith
Tel: (0131 6)51 1381
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Inga Ackermann
Tel: (0131 6)50 4465
Email: |
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