The city of St. Petersburg has long been hailed and hated as the epitome of western modernity on Russian soil. Its myths and legends have endured a three-hundred-year span of catastrophes and restorations and provide a unique insight into Russian cultural identity. Proceeding from the imperial era to the twenty-first century, we will study the depictions of the city along with the art styles it has fostered even as the floods and fires, the demolitions, the revolutions and the WWII siege kept reshaping its image. The readings will include selections from Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Blok and Akhmatova—as well as such eminent contemporary writers as Andrei Bitov, Lydia Ginzburg and Berkeley’s very own Polina Barskova. In addition to folklore and literary production, we will discuss films (Eisenstein, Sokurov, Loznitsa), theatrical productions, modernist art and the Leningrad rock music scene as well as have an occasional excursus into architecture and urban planning.


Our objective is to enhance the students’ ability to read and analyse sophisticated texts in the original. The class will be conducted in a seminar format. Students will be required to read the texts or watch the films at home, complete brief exercises, present the materials and participate actively in class discussions. There will also be regular written assignments, a midterm and a final project. All communication will be in Russian. Class materials will be posted on bCourses or made available as printouts. The class is aimed at students with advanced knowledge of Russian, both those who study it as a second language and heritage speakers.

The class is aimed at students with advanced knowledge of Russian, both those who study it as a second language and heritage speakers.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills