Key facts

Type	Weekly Classes
Location	Oxford
Address	Ewert House Ewert Place Summertown Oxford
Dates	Fri 5 Oct 2012 to Fri 15 Mar 2013 Day: Friday Time of meeting: 11.00-1.00pm Number of meetings: 20
Subject area(s)	Literature
CATS points	20
Fees	From £295.00
Application status	Course ended
Course code	O12P704LTW
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email ppweekly@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

Explore some of Russia’s best-known novels and stories, including Eugene Onegin, A Hero for Our Time, Dead Souls, Fathers and Sons, Oblomov, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, and stories by Chekhov and Bunin.

Description

Russian fiction reached its maturity in the nineteenth century in the work of authors assimilating their European predecessors and adapting their own voices to the needs of a changing country and a new era. This course will examine the unique contexts framing this achievement, together with a fresh exploration of some of Russia’s best-known novels and stories. Key texts for discussion analysis include Puskin's masterpiece, Eugene Onegin; Lermontov's romantic satire A Hero of Our Time; Gogol's comedy Dead Souls; Turgenev's classic Fathers and Sons; Goncharov's visionary Oblomov; Dostoyevsky's psychological thriller Crime and Punishment; Tolstoy's epic War and Peace; and the haunting short stories of Chekhov and Ivan Bunin.

Programme details

Week 1: Backgrounds - Russia and Russian fiction before the nineteenth century
Week 2: Contexts for Eugene Onegin
Week 3: Analysis of Eugene Onegin
Week 4: Contexts for A Hero of Our Time
Week 5: Analysis of A Hero of Our Time
Week 6: Contexts for Dead Souls
Week 7: Analysis of Dead Souls
Week 8: Contexts for Fathers and Sons
Week 9: Analysis of Fathers and Sons
Week 10: Contexts for Oblomov

Week 11: Analysis of Oblomov
Week 12: Contexts for Crime and Punishment
Week 13: Analysis of Crime and Punishment
Week 14: Contexts for War and Peace
Week 15: Analysis of War and Peace
Week 16: Contexts for Chekhov's stories
Week 17: Analysis of Chekhov's stories
Week 18: Contexts for Bunin's stories
Week 19: Analysis of Bunin's stories
Week 20: The Legacy of nineteenth-century Russian fiction

Background Reading:
Malcolm V Jones and Robin Feuer Miller, The Cambridge Companion to the Classic Russian Novel
Neil Cornwell, The Routledge Compnion to Russian Literature

Staff

Course aims

Course Aim:
To familiarise students with a spectrum of key themes in Russian fiction published between roughly 1800 and 1900. The course will demonstrate various ways in which those themes may be seen to interact with diverse strands of Russian history and culture, while also illuminating important aspects of numerous sub-genres (romance, historical, political etc) as well as other factors contributing to the development of Russian fiction more widely.

Course Objectives:
1. To read carefully nine important and characteristic works of nineteenth-century Russian fiction, and some comparable (or contrasting) works from the period
2. To show how our reading of these novels and stories can be enhanced by a combination of critical approaches - literary and historical
3. To foster students' ability to analyse literary works, particularly by appreciating the impact of relevant historical and cultural factors coinciding with the books' publication, and the differing impact these had on works in different sub-genres

Assessment methods

1. Students will be expected to write one essay amounting to 1000 words, the topic for which will be agreed upon by consultation with the tutor
2. Students will present a portfolio of five shorter question sheets provided by the tutor relative to the novels or story collections studied each term.

Teaching methods

1. Presentation/exposition by the tutor
2. Guided class discussion
3. Practical criticism of extracts conducted initially in class
4. Small group analysis of particular passages or examples, both from main books and related texts (prose, drama or poetry)
5. Occasional comparison with film versions available on DVD or video; or similarly, audio versions of texts or related material

Teaching outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be expected to:

1. To read carefully nine important and characteristic works of Russian fiction, and some comparable (or contrasting) works from the period
2. To show how our reading of these novels and stories can be enhanced by a combination of critical approaches - literary and historical
3. To foster students' ability to analyse literary works, particularly by appreciating the impact of relevant historical and cultural factors coinciding with the books' publication, and the differing impact these had on works in different sub-genres

Fee options

Programme Fee

EU Fee: £295.00

Non-EU Fee: £295.00

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