| Unit name | Understanding Russia: Literature & Visual Culture |
|---|---|
| Unit code | RUSS10042 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Connor Doak |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Russian |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Dostoevsky. Rublev. Eisenstein. Akhmatova. The names of Russia's novelists, painters, filmmakers and poets resound through world culture, often synonymous with artistic innovation, psychological depth and political engagement. Russian literature is sometimes stereotyped as gloomy and difficult: Henry James famously coined the term ‘baggy monsters’ to refer to the weighty novels of nineteenth-century Russia. However, this first-year unit focuses on the short masterpieces of Russian literature, highlighting the humour and originality of Russia’s writers, as well as the social, political and religious ideas that motivated them. You will meet writers such as Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva through their short stories, novellas and lyric poems; we save the longer novels and narrative poems for the later years of your degree. Alongside the literature, you will also encounter some of the gems of Russian visual culture, such as films by the masters of early cinema, paintings from court portraitists, icon painters, wandering radicals such as the Peredvizhniki, and avant-garde and political art from times of revolution.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
For Single Honours and Post-A level students of Russian, this unit is half of the cultural component of your first year in the Russian programme. Its interdisciplinary approach and focus on academic skills provide you with a strong foundation for both the TB2 cultural unit and your second-year studies.
For Joint Honours Russianists, this unit is one of two that you may choose from to explore Russian culture in your first year. Both units introduce you to the study of Russian culture and the kinds of academic skills you will need throughout your degree.
More broadly, this unit is particularly well-suited to any students interested in Russia’s rich literary and artistic tradition.
An overview of content
This unit provides an introduction to Russian literature (prose and poetry) and visual culture (film and painting). You will read works by some of the most renowned Russian writers, as well as some lesser-known gems, and encounter key films and other works of visual culture. (No knowledge of Russian is needed though as these materials will be provided in translation/with subtitles.)
Art in Russia has never functioned merely as entertainment; rather, writers and artists have explored questions of human psychology, individual and collective identity, Russia’s national destiny between East and West, the country’s social and political problems, as well as the so-called ‘accursed’ questions: the existence of God and the meaning of life. Russian writers and artists have been at the forefront of innovation and experimentation, from Gogol's Gothic-fantastic stories in the early nineteenth century to Dostoevsky’s psychological realism in the mid nineteenth century and Eisenstein’s revolutionary montage cinema in post-revolutionary Russia. In this unit, we examine masterpieces of Russian literature, cinema and painting in their historical and cultural context, emphasizing the relationship between culture and society. Set works will vary from year to year but are likely to include some of the following: Pushkin, Lermontov, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Brodsky, Shvarts (poetry); Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Platonov, Shalamov, Petrushevskaia, Teffi, Nabokov (prose); Rublev, Repin, Serov, Vrubel, Malevich, Ekster, Goncharova, Shanks (painting); Barnet, Eisenstein, Vertov, Aleksandrov, Ermler, Shepitko, Tarkovsky, Zviagintsev, Dovzhenko (cinema).
In addition to acquiring a knowledge and understanding of Russian culture, you will develop your close reading skills, learning to analyse literature, film and painting in depth. You will improve your research skills, learning to navigate the secondary literature and engage critically with existing scholarship. You will learn how to craft an argument and structure an essay, honing the academic writing skills that will be crucial for the rest of your degree programme.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
‘Everybody thinks of changing the world, but nobody thinks of changing himself,’ quipped the great Russian writer and thinker Lev Tolstoy. Tolstoy, like so many Russian writers and artists, saw literature and art not simply as a tool of social and political change, but as a gateway to inner, personal transformation. Few who encounter Russian culture come away unaltered: the literature and art will open your eyes to a new culture, challenge your preconceptions about the world, and offer new ways of looking at life and death.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a sound understanding of the development of modern Russian short fiction
and poetry, and of key works of cinema and art, within the context of literary/artistic, cultural and social/political history;
2. Identify and interpret the themes and approaches of a number of Russian writers, artists and film directors;
3. Select and apply key analytical approaches to verse and prose text, film and art;
4. Craft a written argument about aspects of Russian literature/visual culture, based on primary source analysis and engagement with the scholarly literature.
Each week, you will have two one-hour classes that will include, broadly, three types of learning: lecture, discussion and workshop.
Lectures (weekly): Lectures equip you with foundational subject knowledge. Far from being a passive mode of learning, lectures help you build critical analysis and evidence-gathering skills by modelling textual interpretation and posing key questions related to the discipline.
Discussion (most weeks): Discussions or seminars are a student-centred mode of learning. In pairs or small groups, you will discuss key questions about the texts, developing, sharing and defending your own arguments.
Workshop (occasionally): Workshops are dedicated to a specific skill, such as academic writing or textual analysis. Workshops are held occasionally in place of the discussion or seminar class, usually in advance of assessment.
Beyond the classroom, you will devote much time to primary and secondary reading. Many of the primary readings will be short stories, novellas or short novels. You will also be expected to read scholarly books and articles; some of these will be assigned but you will be expected to navigate the reading list and library resources yourself to supplement these. Reading is sometimes misunderstood as a ‘passive’ activity, but engaged reading is an active process, as you will not only be expanding your subject knowledge, but also developing your sense of empathy and judgement. Online activities and digital resources will be used as appropriate.
In total, you will have 22 hours of class teaching and 178 hours of independent learning.
Tasks that count towards your unit mark (summative):
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. RUSS10042).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
