Nineteenth-century Russian literature, including Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov. The class is taught in English, on the basis of English translations; students with knowledge of Russian are encouraged to do at least some of the reading in the original.

In this course, we will read a variety of works—short stories, novels in verse, novels and novellas, and plays—by Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Sofya Kovalevskaya, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Lev Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov. These texts invite us to consider a number of significant social and political issues—such as imperial expansion and colonial wars, the relationship between Russia and the West, the struggle for women’s liberation, the emancipation of the serfs, and movements for radical social change—as well as questions about art, love, sex, and death. This course is a requirement for the major in Russian Language and Literature, and a prerequisite for the minor in Russian Literature, and is recommended for prospective graduate students in Slavic. No knowledge of Russian is required; the classes and readings are in English.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills