RUSS240

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RUSS240

Reading Stories: Theory and Practice RUSS240 SP

Next Offered in 9899 SP

This is a course in modern THEORIES of fiction and narrative and in the PRACTICE of reading fiction. Each week we will read major works of twentieth century literary theory paired with classic stories and short novels which illustrate the concepts defined in the theory. The course will cover three contemporary schools of theory (French structuralism, Anglo-American studies of diction and narrative, and contemporary Soviet structuralism) in relation to their Russian formalist heritage. Theoretical readings will be from Tynyanov, Shklovsky, Jakobson, Eikhenbaum, Bakhtin, Genette, Barthes, Todorov, Frye, Booth, and Lotman. The readings in fiction will be by Boccacio, Cervantes, Sterne, Pushkin, Balzac, Melville, Chekhov, Joyce, Nabokov, and Kafka.

MAJOR READINGS

V. Erlich, RUSSIAN FORMALISM
L. Matejka and K. Pomarska, READINGS IN RUSSIAN POETICS
M. Bakhtin, PROBLEMS OF DOSTOEVSKY'S POETICS
R. Barthes, S/Z
T. Todorov, THE POETICS OF PROSE
N. Frye, ANATOMY OF CRITICISM
Y. Lotman, STRUCTURE OF THE ARTISTIC TEXT
Stories and short novels by Boccacio, Cervantes, Sterne,
Pushkin, Balzac, Melville, Chekhov, Joyce, Kafka, Nabokov.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Four or five short papers, final exam

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-03-1998

About the Photo:

Vladimir Nabokov

Reference:

Boyd, Brian. VLADIMIR NABOKOV: THE AMERICAN YEARS. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991.

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