[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2001/2002


Russian Modernist Poetry
RUSS 266 FA

In the first three decades of the 20th century, a remarkable flowering of Russian poetry took place that reinterpreted, revised and extended the tradition of the 19th-century Golden Age. Created against the background of war, revolution and Stalin's repressions, this poetry offers a rich and complex understanding of the poet's relationship to the state and to the "narod." We will read the works of Alexander Blok, Anna Axmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak, Marina Cvetaeva, Velemir Xlebnikov and Vladimir Mayakovsky. Special attention will be paid to the understanding of metrics and verse language; learning to read verse aloud; the relationship between a poet's theorizing about verse and his or her actual verse; the poets' relationships to each other and to the tradition that preceded them; and the historical and sociological background. Conducted in Russian.

MAJOR READINGS

Lyric poetry of all six poets. Blok, DVENADCAT, "On the Mission of the Poet" Axmatova, REQUIEM Mandelstam, "Utro akmeizma," "Slovo i kul'tura" Pasternak, Excerpts from OXRANNAJA GRAMOTA Mayakovsky, "Kak delat' stixi"

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two papers (3-5 pages) in Russian, one paper (5-7 pages) in English, frequent class presentations.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Short class presentations.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RUSS    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: RUSS201 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002


Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459