Spring 2007

REE 325 • Pushkin-W

Course Description

Discover why the Russians call Pushkin their greatest writer. Why Dostoevsky's last statement was his "Pushkin speech." Why the Russian symbolist Alexander Blok paid tribute to Pushkins secret freedom and twentieth-century tragic muse Anna Akhmatova wondered, How did he know it all already? Why Vladimir Nabokov devoted years of his life to translating and annotating Pushkins novel in verse, Eugene Onegin. Find out why the Pushkin monument in Moscow is still peoples number one meeting spot. As an extra bonus, learn about Pushkins special relationship to English literature: Byron, Shakespeare and Scott. We will see that Amadeus works off the same material as Pushkins brilliant Mozart and Salieri. Opera and film versions of Pushkin works will be included. All readings will be in English.

Grading Policy

Essays: 60% Exams: 40% credit for active class participation.

Texts

biography and legend. Pushkin the poet: lyrics, Gypsies, The Bronze Horseman Pushkin the dramatist: Boris Godunov, The Little Tragedies Pushkin the novelist: Eugene Onegin, The Captain's Daughter Pushkin the short-story writer: Tales of Belkin, "The Queen of Spades." Pushkin the enigmatic traveler: The Journey to Arzrum.

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