Fall 2004

E 322 • Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment Czech Style

Course Description

Please direct all inquiries about the course to the instructor. Fyodor Mikhail Dostoevsky is the single most influential novelist of all time, and Crime and Punishment, his greatest work. His particular, morbid genius has both fascinated and repelled authors from Vladimir Nabokov to Milan Kundera to Woody Allen. This course will examine the influence of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment on the writers of a small Central European nation not normally known for its seriousness. We will compare Dostoevsky’s novel to those of Franz Kafka, Milan Kundera, Karel Capek and a host of other Czech writers in an attempt to come to an understanding of Dostoevsky and Czech culture.

Grading Policy

Three 6–8-page papers, 25% each
Two exams, 10% each
Weekly critiques and participation, 5%

Texts

F.M. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
Franz Kafka, The Trial
Karel Capek, Hordubal, Meteor, An Ordinary Life, Tales from Two Pockets, Wayside Crosses
Milan Kundera, The Farewell Waltz
Vladimir Paral, Lovers & Murderers
Ludvík Vaculík, The Guinea Pigs
Ladislav Fuks, The Cremator
Shakespeare, Hamlet

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