Spring 2021

SLAVIC R5A 002 - LEC 002

Reading and Composition

The Empty Space: Russian Literature and Geography

Emily A Laskin

Jan 19, 2021 - May 07, 2021

Tu, Th

09:30 am - 10:59 am

Internet/Online

Class #:24004

Units: 4

Instruction Mode: Pending Review

Offered through Slavic Languages and Literatures

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 0

Enrolled: 17

Waitlisted: 0

Capacity: 17

Waitlist Max: 0

No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

9 hours of outside work hours per week, and 3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week.

Reading and composition course based on works of Russian and other Slavic writers, either written in English or translated into English. As students develop strategies of writing and interpretation, they will become acquainted with a particular theme in Russian and/or Slavic literatures and their major voices. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R5B satisfies the second half.

Class Description

For centuries writers, travelers, and politicians have noticed Russia’s expansion over much of Eurasia and wondered about its significance. From Russian thinkers lamenting their own country’s “emptiness,” to European geographers who saw the origins of Western civilization in the steppe at the center of the continent, and Soviet Central Asian writers who saw their homeland as the origin of the world’s empires—in this class, we will think about how the meaning of Russian and Eurasian land has inflected Russian literature down to the present. Some questions we’ll consider include: how does Russian literature represent non-urban landscapes? What do forests, mountains, deserts, and grasslands signify in Russian literature? Which ones are described as “empty” and why? What kinds of ideas has Russian fiction explored or advanced about what to do in or with “empty” places? We’ll also spend some time thinking about the role of empty space in a time of climate change, as traditional ways of life become impossible in some places, new ways of life newly possible in others, and the regions—many in Russia—which extract and transport fossil fuels empty out in more literal senses. Possible texts include: Chingiz Aitmatov, The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years Aleksandr Blok, “The Scythians” Anton Chekhov, The Steppe Hamid Ismailov, The Railway Andrei Platonov, Dzhan Valentin Rasputin, Farewell to Matyora Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Leo Tolstoy, The Cossacks

Class Notes

Due to the high demand for R&C courses we monitor attendance very carefully. Attendance is mandatory the first two weeks of classes, this includes all enrolled and wait listed students. If you do not attend all classes the first two weeks you may be dropped. If you are attempting to add into this class during weeks 1 and 2 and did not attend the first day, you will be expected to attend all class meetings thereafter and, if space permits, you may be enrolled from the wait list. show less