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Academic Year 2003/2004

Short Prose of the 20th Century
RUSS 285 SP
Crosslistings:
REES 285

At the beginning of the twentieth century, many Russian writers turned away from the monumentality of the realist novel to miniature forms such as lyric poems and short stories. This course will investigate one of the period's most interesting genres, the collection of short prose pieces that often mixed fiction, nonfiction, and literary criticism, "held together not only by the interest of the separate parts, but by the interest of their linkages as well" (Shklovsky). Russian examples of the genre will be compared to similar works by European and Latin American writers. All work will be done in English.

MAJOR READINGS

Nikolai Gogol, ARABESQUES (excerpts)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, DIARY OF A WRITER (excerpts)
Viktor Shklovsky, THIRD FACTORY, ZOO or LETTERS NOT ABOUT LOVE
Osip Mandelstam, THE NOISE OF TIME
Boris Pasternak, SAFE CONDUCT
Daniil Kharms, INCIDENTS
Isaak Babel, RED CAVALRY
Walter Benjamin, ONE-WAY STREET; A BERLIN CHRONICLE
Jorge Luis Borges, LABYRINTHS
Raymond Queneau, EXERCISES IN STYLE
Francis Ponge, SOAP
Italo Calvino, INVISIBLE CITIES

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two papers (5-10 pp.); one in-class presentation.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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