Module RUSS2221: RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE SOVIET PERIOD

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Russian)

RUSS2221: RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE SOVIET PERIOD

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To familiarise students with the principal themes and directions of Russian literature of the Soviet period in the context of historical development through literary texts, films, documents and various visual media.
• To provide a solid factual background against which individual works will be perceived in their proper historical, cultural and ideological context.
• To encourage individual talents and proclivities and help students to achieve their maximum potential through one to one tutorials and personal guidance on essay subjects and further reading

Content

• The course will offer a 20th-century history alternative to complement the other second-year course on offer (Russian literature of the later 19th and early 20th centuries).
• It is also designed in relation to the second-year option on History of the Soviet Period
• The course is designed for students with an intermediate knowledge of Russian language and intermediate reading skills in Russian.
• The course covers the history of the literature of the Soviet period, concentrating on the various groups which dominated the literary scene between 1917 and 1990, the hegemony of Socialist Realism from 1932 to the publication of Solzhenitsyn's 'A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' in Novy Mir in 1962, and new trends in Soviet Literature after that date. It also covers some major writers of the period, concentrating on individual works and texts.
• The course provides a factual background for basic stages in the development of Soviet and modern Russian literature and ideology. The students will be able to compare the literary texts with their interpretation in Soviet films.
• The students will study the basic Russian texts in English translation. The films are mainly in Russian.

Learning Outcomes

• Gain an understanding of the main trend in the development of Russian literature of the Soviet period in a broad historical and cultural context.
• Become familiar with the various groups which dominated the literary scene between 1917 and 1990, the hegemony of Socialist Realism concentrating on individual works and texts.

• Develop techniques of analysing literary discourse and their critical assessment and build on skills introduced in the first year.

• Skills in writing literary essays on the topics of their choice.
• Express their own ideas in written form.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Fortnightly seminars will be used to read, examine and analyse texts and visual media relating to the literary text of the week and will also involve continuing development of presentation skills.
• Independent learning will be structured around the preparation for seminars and research for the summative essay.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

None