Spring 2007

E 322 • Russian Literature and Film after 1990

Course Description

This course will use both contemporary Russian prose and film as a means of exploring the confusion that resulted from the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the search for a new sense of identity in Russia throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Writers will include Tatiana Tolstaya, Andrei Bitov, Dmitrii Bakin, Viktor Erofeev, as well as the contemporary Russian incarnation of Marquis de Sade--Vladimir Sorokin, and finally the most popular and widely translated of contemporary Russian authors, Viktor Pelevin. The part of the course dealing with cinema will use the work of Russia's best contemporary directors, such as Kira Muratova, Petr Lutsyk, Aleksei Balabanov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Andrei Zviaginstev and Aleksandr Sokurov as an entry-point into the soul of contemporary Russia.

Grading Policy

Participation + quizzes 20%
3 essays (6 pages) 60%
Presentation 20%

Texts

Novels: Dmitrii Bakin, Reasons for Living; Andrei Bitov, The Monkey Link; Victor Erofeev, Life With An Idiot; Vladimir Makanin, The Escape Hatch & the Long Road Ahead; Viktor Pelevin, The Life of Insects, Homo Zapiens; Vladimir Sorokin, Ice; Tatyana Tolstaya, Sleepwalker in a Fog

Films: Aleksei Balabanov, Brother; Timur Bekmabetov, Nightwatch; Kira Muratova, The Tuner; Nikita Mikhalkov, The Barber of Siberia; Aleksandr Sokurov, Russian Ark; Andrei Zviagintsev, The Return

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