COURSE SYLLABUS
- Historical and cultural background. Periodization of the Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century.
- Diffusion and influence of West-European literatures.
- Works of Aleksandr Pushkin. Periodization. His contribution to the development of new genres. Lyric; the novel in verse Evgenij Onegin; prose, The Tales of Belkin. Analyzing selected lyrics and passages (in Russian) from the literary works: Pushkin’s language and style.
- Works of Michail Lermontov. Lyric; composition strategies in the novel A Hero of Our Time. Analyzing selected lyrics and passages (in Russian) from the novel: Lermontov’s language and literary ‘devices’.
- Romanticism in Russia. The byronic hero: parallels between Onegin and Pechorin (A Hero of Our Time).
- Works of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol’s cultural mythes: Ukraina, St.Petersburg, Rome. The novel Dead souls; the comedy The Government Inspector. Analyzing selected passages (in Russian) from the novel and the comedy: Gogol’s style.
- Forties of the 19th century. The Natural school. Belinsky. Almanacs and literary journals.
- Literary criticism on Pushkin and Gogol in the 20th century: 1.Introduction to Lotman’s semiotic analyze of Evgenij Onegin; 2. The peculiarity of Sinjavskij’s view of Gogol’s art.