Module RUSS3411: SCREENING THE NATION: RUSSIAN CINEMA AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Russian)

RUSS3411: SCREENING THE NATION: RUSSIAN CINEMA AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To examine the complexities of the “national question“ in the Soviet Union and to elucidate the role that Russian and Soviet cinema played in the articulation of “national question“ over the most of the twentieth century.

Content

• This module is conceived as an interdisciplinary investigation of the articulations of national question in Russia and the Soviet Union between early 1900s to the present day.
• Investigation of the national question in a multinational state is being carried out through the systematic and contextualised analysis of cinematic production in the period. The specificity of the Soviet politics towards nationalities will first be explored and the key concepts of “indigenisation“ and “assimilation“ will be introduced.
• The changes in Soviet policies will also be explored and explained in relation to the shifting internal and external socio-political contexts. Transformations of on-screen representations of the “problem of nationalities“, as well as the evolution of national cinemas within the Soviet ethnic conglomerate, will be covered in detail. Similarly, consideration will be given to a range of understandings of the notion of national cinema, from a descriptive category denoting the cinema of a single unified republic, through a more complex idea of national cinema as the instrument of official Soviet politics, to the idea of national cinemas as vehicles of national revivals.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this module, students will have:
• acquired thorough interdisciplinary knowledge, which will intertwine the socio-political history of Russia and the Soviet Union with the political aesthetic of Russian and Soviet cinema.

• By the end of this module, students will have:
• acquired the ability to analyse cinematic texts in a cross-disciplinary way, which will emerge from the intersection of cinema studies with cultural and political history.
• learned to identify the presence of ideas on the national question and they will utilise appropriate primary and secondary sources in support of this.

• By the end of this module, students will:
• have further developed their ability to work independently within a prescribed framework, with considerable emphasis being placed on research process.
• be able to present a cogent and structured argument in both oral and written form.

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

• The lectures deliver key information and concepts, acting as exegesis for the weekly set readings and allowing for discussion and clarification as necessary.
• The seminars are devoted to class discussion and/or presentation of results of independent study by students working individually or in pairs. They provide for the development of analytical and interpretative skills.
• Use is made of Duo for students to further consolidate their learning independently.
• Summative assessment is in the form of two summative essays, designed to encourage independent research and learning, and enable students to engage in extended critical analysis.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment takes the form of presentations in seminars, building on independent study by students.