[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2003/2004

Nihilism in the Russian Novel
RUSS 284 FA

Around 1860 student radicals seized the attention of Russia's government and elite through their "nihilist" attacks on every existing authority, from the liberalism of their parents to the traditional values which supported the autocracy and the Orthodox church. Tolstoy wrote WAR AND PEACE as an indirect response to nihilism, and Turgenev and Dostoevsky responded by making student nihilists the heroes of FATHERS AND CHILDREN, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, and THE DEVILS. The Russian novel was elevated to new religious and philosophical heights by its absorption of the nihilists' sense of cultural crisis and thirst for new, absolute values. Readings in Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Tolstoy will be supplemented by selected readings from letters, essays, and biographies, which reflect Russia in the 1860's.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): White,Duffield   

Times: ..T.R.. 02:40PM-04:00PM;     Location: FISK312

Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 19)

SR. major: 0   Jr. major: 0

SR. non-major: 5   Jr. non-major: 5   SO: 5   FR: 4

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal:    Speaking, Writing

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459