2021 Fall
SLAVIC 147A 001 - LEC 001
East Slavic Folklore
Russian Folklore and Folk Belief from Myth to Present Day
Lyubov Golburt, Karina McCorkle
Class #:32056
Units:3
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
Slavic Languages and Literatures
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
0
Enrolled: 25
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 25
Waitlist Max: 3
No Reserved Seats
Hours & Workload
3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials, and 6 hours of outside work hours.
Other classes by Lyubov Golburt
Course Catalog Description
Folktales, epic songs, customs, and beliefs of Russians and Ukrainians.
Class Description
The witch Baba Yaga warns the heroes and heroines who enter her hut on chicken legs that “if you know too much, you grow old too soon.” In this course, students not afraid of this warning will read classic Russian fairy tales, acquaint themselves with Baba Yaga, the rusalka, the leshii, devils, and other creatures, and learn how deeply folklore is embedded into the history and culture of Russia past and present.
The first part of the course will be devoted to the major Russian folk genres and the tropes and figures associated with them, including wonder tales, bylina epics, and first-person accounts of supernatural encounters. In addition, we will chart the development of folk beliefs and rituals from Slavic paganism to a complex relationship with Orthodox Christianity. We will also develop a toolbox of strategies for how best to analyze examples of folk culture, using classic Russian theorists as well as more modern techniques.
In the second part of the course we will examine the ways Russian folk belief has been adapted and appropriated, as well as how it has evolved on its own, primarily focusing on its place in twentieth and twenty-first century culture. Students will learn important comparative skills as we put traditional tales side-by-side with nineteenth-century literary adaptations, Soviet “fakelore,” and satirical rewritings from perestroika. We will discuss how powerful ideologies – from 19th-century nationalism to Stalinism to Putin-era conservatism – assimilate and co-opt folk culture. We will watch PSAs and children’s cartoons that use folk tropes and plots, study such modern folk genres as urban legends and political jokes, and consider the immense popularity of psychics and folk healers in the nineties and 2000s. Finally, we will analyze the ways these recurring images, stories, and beliefs have remained poignant in the past twenty years—in contemporary horror and fantasy film, music videos, and even memes—and determine what Russian folklore is in 2021.
*Course texts will be available in a required reader.
Rules & Requirements
Repeat Rules
Requirements class fulfills
Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth
Reserved Seats
Current Enrollment
No Reserved Seats
Textbooks & Materials
See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.
Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials
Associated Sections
None