Explores Dostoevsky’s works through the lens of Russian and Western novel theory. Theorists include: Viacheslav Ivanov, Georg Lukacs and Mikhail Bakhtin. Topics include: genre, history and modernity; the novelistic narrator; novelistic plot; novelistic narrative; time and space; the generic history and prehistory of the novel; the novel and the self; the novel’s relation to the present; novelistic subgenres including the Bildungsroman; the novel’s simultaneous status as fragment and totality; and the particular and the universal in novelistic representation. Taught in English, readings in either Russian or English. Reflections on Russia's position between Europe and Asia and on the place of Russia's East Asian neighbors in its history and culture. Taught in English, readings in English. We will read contemporary works of criticism and thought from Russia and Europe that may have influenced it.
Explores Dostoevsky’s works through the lens of Russian and Western novel theory. Theorists include: Viacheslav Ivanov, Georg Lukacs and Mikhail Bakhtin. Topics include: genre, history and modernity; the novelistic narrator; novelistic plot; novelistic narrative; time and space; the generic history and prehistory of the novel; the novel and the self; the novel’s relation to the present; novelistic subgenres including the Bildungsroman; the novel’s simultaneous status as fragment and totality; and the particular and the universal in novelistic representation. Taught in English, readings in either Russian or English. Reflections on Russia's position between Europe and Asia and on the place of Russia's East Asian neighbors in its history and culture. Taught in English, readings in English. We will read contemporary works of criticism and thought from Russia and Europe that may have influenced it.
