RUSS209

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RUSS209

Short Prose of the Twentieth Century RUSS209 SP

Next Offered in 9899 SP

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)
Vasilii Rozanov, SOLITARIA
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
Roland Barthes, ROLAND BARTHES BY ROLAND BARTHES

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

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

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA RUSS

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-10-1997

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