This course offers a cultural history of encounters between Russia and Asia in literature, film and visual art. The lenses of Orientalism, Eurasianism and Internationalism will be used to analyze Russian interactions with three spaces: the Caucasus, Central Asia, and East Asia. We will discuss works by classic Russian writers and artists (including Tolstoy, Blok and Platonov) that address the question of Russia’s engagement with Asia and consider Russia’s ambiguous spatial identity between Europe and Asia. We will also examine responses to Russian culture and the Russian/Soviet state in the literature and culture of China (Lu Xun, Xiao Hong), Japan (Kurosawa), Central Asia (Aitmatov) and the Caucasus (Sadulaev). All readings in English.

Russia straddles the geographical border between Europe and Asia, and modern Russian culture has developed a complex sense of identity between “East” and “West.” While many approaches to Russia focus on its connections to the West, this class offers a cultural history of Russia’s relationship with Asia. We will explore cultural manifestations of this relationship in literature, film and visual art, focusing on Russian encounters with three spaces: East Asia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Russia has approached Asia as an imperial colonizer; as a Eurasian relative; and as an anti-imperialist revolutionary ally. Accordingly, this course employs three interpretative lenses to investigate the Russian relationship to Asia: Orientalism, Eurasianism, and Internationalism. From the Russian side, we will consider works by classic Russian writers (including Lev Tolstoy, Alexander Blok, and Andrei Platonov) as well as films (Vsevolod Pudovkin) and visual art (Vasilii Vereshchagin, Natalia Goncharova). The second half of the course will explore responses to Russian culture, Russian imperialism, and socialist internationalism from China (Lu Xun, Xiao Hong), Japan (Akira Kurosawa), Central Asia (Chingiz Aitmatov) and the Caucasus (Alisa Ganieva). At the conclusion of the course, we will focus on the contemporary Russia-China relationship in the context of postsocialism and the economic and political rise of China.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills