A survey of the writer's principal artistic works, treated in relation to his life and to developments in Russian and European literature. Extensive outside reading required for this course.

Most of the semester will be devoted to Tolstoy’s two novelistic masterpieces, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. We will also explore some of Tolstoy’s early fiction and one or two of his later works. Workload: substantial and intense weekly readings; two papers (5-8 pages), a midterm essay and a final examination (focused on close reading of the texts). Texts include: Childhood; War and Peace (the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation), Anna Karenina (the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation); several short stories. Leo Tolstoy. Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth. Modern Library. Random House, 0-375-75944-1 Leo Tolstoy. Anna Karenina. Penguin, 978-0-14-303500-8 Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy’s Short Fiction. Norton Critical Edition, 978-0393931501 Leo Tolstoy. War and Peace. Vintage, 978-1400079988 With concurrent enrollment in Slavic 100R (1 unit), students can write a research paper (10-15 pages) on a topic of individual choice (enrollment in the research unit, upon instructor’s approval, will be open in the Fall).

Prerequisites: None. Required readings and lectures in English. Students with advanced knowledge of Russian are encouraged to do at least some reading in Russian.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills