University of Pittsburgh

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Russian 0810: Masterpieces of Twentieth-Century Russian Literature

Syllabus

Spring 2001 (01-2)

Time/place: T/Th 1-2:15 (5G58 Posvar Hall)
Instructor: Benjamin M. Sutcliffe
Cathedral of Learning 1417
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Telephone: 412-624-5715
Fax: 412-624-9714
E-mail: bmsst37@hotmail.com
Office Hours: M & Th: 9:00-10:00 AM (1417 CL)

Readings are due on the date under which they appear. Please see the Course Description for details concerning short and long papers,grading, etc.

Week 1: Introduction

Thursday January 4
  • Introduction. Bureaucratic details.

    Week 2: Realism

    Tuesday January 9
  • Anton Chekhov: Lady with the Pet Dog (22 pages) (xerox)
    Thursday January 11
  • Anton Chekhov: The Man in a Shell (17 pages) (xerox) Short paper due.

    Week 3: Realism and Madness

    Tuesday January 16
  • Fedor Sologub: The Petty Demon (excerpts) (xerox)
    Thursday January 18
  • Fedor Sologub: The Petty Demon (excerpts) (xerox)Short paper due.

    Week 4: Symbolism

    Tuesday January 23
  • Andrei Belyi: Petersburg (128 pages)
    Thursday January 25
  • Andrei Belyi: Petersburg (128 pages) Short paper due.

    Week 5: Symbolism versus Revolutionary Enthusiasm

    Tuesday January 30
  • Andrei Belyi: Petersburg (128 pages)
    Thursday February 1
  • Vladimir Maiakovskii: Poems: Brooklyn Bridge, My Soviet Passport, and Fine! (16 pages) (xerox) Short paper due.

    Week 6: Realism and Dystopia

    Tuesday February 6
  • Isaak Babel: The Life and Adventures of Matthew Pavlichenko, Salt, and In St. Valentines Church (17 pages) (reserve)
    Thursday February 8
  • Evgenii Zamiatin: We (116 pages) Short paper due.

    Week 7: Dystopia and Absurdism

    Tuesday February 13
  • Evgenii Zamiatin: We (116 pages)
    Thursday February 15
  • Daniil Kharms: The Beginning of a Beautiful Day (A Symphony), Fedya Davydovich, Blue Notebook No. 10 (10 pages) (reserve) Short paper due.

    Week 8: Stalinism

    Tuesday February 20
  • Selections from Intimacy and Terror: Editors Introduction and Diary of Stepan Filippovich Podlubny (50 pages) (xerox)
    Thursday February 22
  • Evgenii Evtushenko: Poems: Babi Yar and The Heirs of Stalin (12 pages) (xerox) Short paper due.

    Week 9: Stalinism and The Writer

    Tuesday February 27
  • Mikhail Bulgakov: Master and Margarita (192 pages)
    Thursday March 1
  • Mikhail Bulgakov: Master and Margarita (192 pages) Short paper due.

    Week 10: Spring Break

    Tuesday March 6
  • No class.
    Thursday March 8
  • No class.

    Week 11: Camp Literature

    Tuesday March 13
  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (160 pages) (reserve)
    Thursday March 15
  • Elena Glinka: Kolyma Streetcar (7 pages) (xerox) Short paper due.

    Week 12: Stagnation and Memory

    Tuesday March 20
  • Iurii Trifonov: The House on the Embankment (82 pages)
    Thursday March 22
  • Iurii Trifonov: The House on the Embankment (82 pages) Short paper due.

    Week 13: Stagnation and Oblivion

    Tuesday March 27
  • Venedikt Erofeev: Moscow Circles (91 pages) (xerox)
    Thursday March 29
  • Venedikt Erofeev: Moscow Circles (91 pages) (xerox) Short paper due.

    Week 14: Rural Prose versus Womens Prose

    Tuesday April 3
  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Matryonas House (50 pages) (xerox) 1-page paper proposal due.
    Thursday April 5
  • Galina Shcherbakova: The Three Loves of Masha Peredreeva (60 pages) (xerox)

    Week 15: Womens Prose and Postmodernism

    Tuesday April 10
  • Nina Sadur: Rings and The Cute Little Redhead (15 pages) (xerox)
    Thursday April 12
  • Viktor Erofeev: The Parakeet (12 pages) (reserve) Short paper due.

    Week 16: The Internet and New Underground Literature

    Tuesday April 17
  • No readings assigned. Discussion/display of materials from literary salons, the Internet, etc.
    Thursday April 19
  • Conclusion. Final paper due.