LITTRANS 202/204 Course title: 20th-century Russian Literature in Translation.
MWF 9:55-10:45 am
This class as a whole has three major objectives:
- To acquaint students with some of the major literary movements and writers of 20th-Century Russian Literature.
- To acquaint students with the history, culture and politics of Russia and the USSR.
- To teach the students various critical approaches to the study of literature and to help them read, analyze and write about literature.
In addition, the Communications-B sections of this class allow the students to work more closely on writing and research. The Teaching Assistants for these sections provide their own syllabus and Course outline. The Slavic department is proud of its record of always having excellent TAs in charge of these classes.
The lectures begin with an introduction to the study of literature and with an overview of some of the specific features of Russian history and culture. The first texts studied are short stories by Chekhov: this allows the students to develop the habits of close reading that should stand them in good stead for the longer works. I then survey the reasons for the revolutions in culture and politics in the period from 1892-1917. Our first novel is Zamyatin’s science-fiction dystopia We, precursor of 1984, Brave New World and countless other works. The themes most central to utopian and dystopian literature will be an important thread running through the course. Our second novel, Olesha’s Envy, describes the clash of the “old” and “new” ways of life in the young and triumphalist Soviet state and the attempts of a “superfluous man” to find a place for himself in this new society. Nabokov’s novel Invitation to a Beheading is typical of this writer in its highly metaliterary and enigmatic narrative of an “outsider” who is condemned to death by an Alice-in-Wonderland –type world for the crime of “gnostical turpitude”(!); Nabokov argues that this text has little to do with the Soviet and Nazi tyrannies of the time, still less to do with Kafka, though some readers will disagree. Our next novel is often the students’ favorite – the unclassifiable Master and Margarita, with a cast list which includes a large talking black cat, Pontius Pilate and someone whose identity shall remain a mystery for the time being. Nadezhda Mandelstam’s moving memoir of her husband’s life, art and death in the hell of Stalin’s Russia brings us back to a harsh reality, but even here there are moments of catharsis. Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was published in large part to help Khrushchev’s process of De-Stalinization, but this first truthful account of life in the Gulag, like the author itself, soon refused to conform to the “authorized readings” vainly imposed on it, and can be seen as one of the books that helped lead to the collapse of the USSR. Venedikt Erofeev’s Moscow to the End of the Line depicts a different type of resistance to the official “heroic” ideology – alcoholism and anti-social behavior as a form of self-martyrdom. This final text foreshadows the post-Soviet, postmodern style of contemporary Russian writing, in which the breaking of virtually all lexical and literary taboos in the depiction of extreme and absurd acts of sex and violence are offered as a way of overcoming the allegedly exhausted traditions of 20th-century Russian Literature.
LitTrans 207
TR 2:30-3:45pm
In the United States, science fiction (SF) is typically thought of as a quintessentially American (or American-British) genre. This course explores the rich tradition of Slavic contributions to SF. We will survey major writers and their works in the Czech, Polish, and Russian contexts, most of which are little known in the US but are nonetheless, as we will see, fundamental to the genre. We will read these works as both anchored in their particular cultural-historical circumstances and also for their contribution to the development of SF as a world genre. In this regard, SF is perhaps the dominant contemporary genre for sociocultural commentary and critique aimed at reimagining the world in which we live, and Slavic SF texts have played a defining role in establishing SF as such. Since the rise of film coincides with the rise of modern SF and since the intertextual dimension in SF literature is particularly strong, we will also compare and contrast the literary works with, where available, their film adaptations.
LitTrans 218 /Slavic 472 Historia literatury polskiej po roku 1863, 3 credits
MW 4:00-5:15 PM
LitTrans 221/ Slavic 421/ Nikolai Gogol
Professor Andrew Reynolds
001 MWF 12:05-12:55
301 T 12:05-12:55
“When, as in the immortal The Overcoat, Gogol really let himself go and pottered on the brink of his private abyss, he became the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced.” Vladimir Nabokov
This course will explore the major fictional texts of Nikolai Vasil’evich Gogol (1809-52) – Ukrainian and Petersburg Tales, The Inspector General, Dead Souls – in an attempt to get closer to one of the most enigmatic and influential writers in world literature Relevant non-fiction texts will also be introduced when appropriate. Despite the comparisons to Poe and Kafka or Gogol’s undeniable influence on Dostoevsky and Bulgakov, one thing is certain – his world of laughter and tears is unlike that of any other writer. Are his characters realistic if satirical portraits of his countrymen, or phantoms spawned by his own spiritual torments? Is Gogol a Russian imperialist or Ukrainian nationalist, both, or neither? Is Dead Souls an excoriation of a sad Russia or an evocation of her special destiny as the speeding troika before whom all other nations will give way?
Assessment will be made based on class participation, attendance, essays, and an in-class exam in week 12. Please have read and bring the assigned story to each class period, since our discussions – as well as most of the writing assignments – will be based on close textual analysis. All students are asked to purchase the editions indicated, but are encouraged to consult and compare any of the many other available translations of Gogol’s work as well. Students in SL421 may wish to compare the Russian texts to the translations – cheap editions of Gogol’s Russian works should be available from online book stores such as kniga.com or petropol.com or the biblio-globus web site. Many (almost certainly all) of the Russian texts are available online too. And of course Memorial Library has many copies of Gogol’ in Russian.
Undergraduate students registered for Slavic 421 will have additional meetings (every two or three weeks) throughout the semester to discuss elements of some the original Russian texts, including works already studied in English in class and a few works that are not part of that syllabus. A meeting schedule and requirements for Slavic 421 will be distributed separately. Our main focus will be on reading “The Nose” in Russian.
LitTrans 224/Slavic 424 Tolstoy
001 MWF 11:00-11:50
301 T 11:00-11:50
Prof. Kirill Ospovat
Lit Trans 224 (3 credits) / Slavic 424 (4 credits)
In this course, we will read and discuss Tolstoy’s lengthier and shorter masterpieces, from War and Peace to Kholstomer, alongside some of his nonfictional manifestoes. We will explore his techniques of representation and ethical stances and trace their evolution through Tolstoy’s long literary career. What were Tolstoy’s objections to sexuality and political reform? What is moral and beautiful? How does civilization and education relate to nature? What does death say about life? These are some of the questions that we will investigate while reading Tolstoy’s manifold work.
For Slavic 424: discussion section mandatory, will meet five times in the course of the semester, readings and discussion in Russian; pre-requisite Slavic 276.
LitTrans 234 Soviet Life and Culture Through Literature and Art (from 1917-1991)
Lecture 001/002 MWF 2:25-3:15 pm
Discussion 301 T 2:25-3:15 pm
Lit Trans 234 is a survey of Russian artistic, intellectual, social, and popular culture of the Soviet period (1917-1991). In this class, we will examine important features of Russian cultural history of the Soviet period, with an emphasis on the interaction between politics and culture between 1917 and 1991. We will explore significant works of Russian “high art” (e.g., painting, literature, film) as well as mass culture or popular culture (the culture of the everyday) in order to think about the connections between them. No previous knowledge of Russian culture or language is required.
LitTrans 241 /Slavic 242 Literatures and Cultures of Eastern Europe
Dijanna Mitrovic
MW 2:30-3:45pm
In this class we will be studying cultures of Eastern and Central Europe through works of literature, theatre, and film produced between the end of WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall (1945–1989). Special focus will be placed on the strategies political regimes were employing to control artistic production during the Cold War era, as well as the subversive techniques of resistance that artists and authors used in return. Apart from learning about the region of the time, the class material will help us recognize/resist various forms of (self)censorship in general, thus making us better scholars, artists, and citizens of the world. Additional course’s goal is to hone your analytical skills as well as critical thinking abilities.
LitTrans 247-002 /Slavic 245/ Topics in Slavic Literatures in Translation: Russia and the Jews
3 cr.
Zilbergerts, T-Th, 11-12:15
Language of instruction: English
This course explores the rich world of Russian Jewish culture from its very beginnings. Reading literary, theological and political works by Jewish and Russian writers, our aim will be to understand the creative and often-troubled relationships among them. The course will take us from the Imperial through the Soviet periods, examining the rise of movements such as Hasidism, Zionism, and Communism, as we analyze each literary work amid the cultural developments of its day. All materials will be provided in English translation and no prior knowledge is required.
email: zilbergerts@wisc.edu
LitTrans 274 /Scand 374 Masterpieces of Scandinavian Literature: the Twentieth Century, 3 credits*
Susan Brantly, TR 12:05 PM-12:55 PM Lecture
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for Lit Trans 274. Students taking the class as Scand 374 must have 2 years of a Scand language. Scand 374 counts towards the Scandinavian Certificate or Major.
Can thrillers, science fiction novels, or films be literary masterpieces? Yes they can! Explore the changing fashions in literature throughout the 20th Century, while you learn important survival skills for the media age. Everybody wants something, so how do you assess what different writers want from you, and what tricks do they use to go about getting it? Through a selection of short texts, novels, and plays, we’ll be learning from some of the best: Nobel Laureates (Knut Hamsun, Pär Lagerkvist), medical doctors (P.C. Jersild), and other provocateurs (August Strindberg, Isak Dinesen, Ingmar Berman, Peter Hoeg, and the rest).
Please contact sbrantly@wisc.edu with any questions.
LitTrans 275-001
Scott Mellor, Online
Hans Christian Andersen loved to tell stories to children, but he loathed the reputation that he was only a children’s author. Andersen is a splendid storyteller–he entertains us well–but in order to dispel some common, but sorely mistaken, notions about him, please keep in mind that Andersen is not a sweetly amiable, pleasant, sentimentally naive and childlike storyteller. He can pretend to be all that, but the best of his tales have a sting; they are humorous, but darkly so; and they probe into moral and existential issues that remain with us. His stories explore the human soul and deal with its complexity. Do not expect simplicity–expect the opposite! A number of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, well-known as well as not, will be examined during the next fifteen weeks. We will be looking at his tales, his life and his 19th century Danish and European context. Niels Ingwersen and Scott A. Mellor developed this course. It is primarily Mr. Ingwersen you see in the on-line lectures, but the instructor and developer of the Canvas material for this course is Scott A. Mellor.
LitTrans 275-002/-003 /Scand 475 The Writings of Hans Christian Andersen for Scandinavian Majors, 4 credits
Claus Andersen, MWF 11:00 AM-11:50 AM
Prerequisites: 2 years of a Scand language or cons inst. Open to Freshmen
Scand 475 is a 4 credit non-Comm B section, designed for Scand St majors and certificate students or students with prior experience in a Nordic language.
Hans Christian Andersen lived in Denmark from 1805 – 1875. He is one of the best-known writers in the world, and his tales have been translated into numerous languages.
His writings span many genres and include much more than the “fairy” tales which made him famous. In this class, however, we will focus on the tales. They can be read by young and old alike, but it is quite certain that as an adult you will have a much stronger appreciation of the complexities and important messages in his tales. They are not mere “children’s tales” but contain, wit, humor, sharp observations, social criticism, and existential thoughts, among many others. They are composed in a way that guarantees them well-deserved immortality.
We will read a variety of tales, discuss them, place them in a historical context, and also try to build a picture in our mind of Andersen, the writer. Maybe you will even be inspired to visit Denmark and his native city of Odense.
LitTrans 277/German 275/ CompLit 350-002 – KAFKA AND THE KAFKAESQUE
Lecture 001 TR 11:00-12:15pm
Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) is an author whose impact on world literature cannot be overestimated. Born an Austrian Jew and living in the German-speaking Diaspora of Prague, he spent his days making a living as a successful employee of an insurance company and his nights desperately trying to create fiction that met his own exacting expectations. Constantly at odds with the demands of his family, friends, and fiancées/female acquaintances and plagued by poor health, Franz Kafka struggled his entire life long to reconcile the irreconcilable: life and writing. He published only very few texts during his lifetime and on his death bed he asked his friend Max Brod to burn all remaining manuscripts—a last will which Brod did not execute.
Kafka is an “international” author of a new type of “world literature,” the quality of which is irrefutable yet challenges traditional approaches and standard modes of reading. It is perplexing: We understand the words and sentences of Kafka’s texts, but when it comes to envisioning the universe therein and the texts’ internal logic, we encounter almost insurmountable barriers. Similar to Kafka’s characters, who are losers from the outset, the readers of Kafka’s texts seem doomed to fail in their attempts to understand this uncanny world, created out of common language. And here lies the uncomfortable paradox: We may understand his texts but we struggle to follow their logic and the mysterious world created by them. Even when our imagination and comprehension fall short of grasping the textual world we remain mesmerized by it. Thus, Kafka’s texts demand a transdisciplinary and comparative approach.
Kafka’s texts forged a new level and quality of literature that has triggered innumerable responses in many languages, media, and discourses, and the term Kafkaesque makes clear that the type and dimension of Kafka’s texts have been perceived as strange, uncanny, and resistant to any classification. In the attempt to adopt or imitate the Kafkaesque, other authors situate themselves in the literary tradition of the uncanny, which in part relies on the mystified city of Prague with its long Jewish tradition, as well as on the tradition of Romantic and ‘Gothic’ texts.
In this course, we will read a wide selection of texts by Franz Kafka in order to approach an understanding of his universe and prepare ourselves to view this universe in comparison with other contemporary authors as well as authors from other cultures and eras (N. Gogol, W.G. Sebald, T. Pynchon, H. Mulisch, P. Roth). Lectures will also highlight literature, film, and art works in the tradition of the Kafkaesque. There will be a midterm and a final exam. A small number of short writing and drawing assignments may be required. This course is open to freshmen. Please note that this specific “German 275” course does not count for the German Certificate since it is taught in English. German majors may count it as a cognate course for the major.
LitTrans 279/ German 279– YIDDISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE IN AMERICA
Lecture TR 1:00-2:15
Prerequisites: None
At the turn of the 20th century millions of Yiddish-speaking East European Jews arrived in America. Through study of the Yiddish literature and culture they produced, this course will give students insight into these immigrants’ experience and their efforts to find a comfortable perch in the American landscape. The course will be subdivided into four sections covering different aspects of these Yiddish-speaking immigrants experience and efforts: The immigration process and arrival in America; immigrant entry into the workplace; encounter with urban modernity and America’s racial and ethnic diversity; the tension between assimilatory pressures and the desire for a transnational identity. Although turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants produced an unprecedented Yiddish cultural blossoming worthy of concentrated study, this course, which fulfills the Undergraduate Studies Ethnic Studies General Education Requirement, strives to employ this rich culture as a jumping-off point for achievement of greater understanding and appreciation of the experience of contemporary ethnic/racial minorities with origins abroad who have become a growing element of American society since the expansion of immigration to the United States in the 1960s.
LitTrans 324 /Scand 436 Topics in Scandinavian Literature: Criminal Utopias, 4 credits
Nete Schmidt, TR 11:00 AM-12:15 PM
Prerequisites: None. Open to interested students
Language of Instruction: English
Science fiction portrays imaginary realms which illustrate the highest potential for the achievements of the human race, both spiritually in conjunction with ideologies, philosophies, and religions, and technologically in conjunction with technical advances, technological inventions, and practical innovations in our contemporary lives. At the same time, science fiction depicts the lowest common denominator of the potential of humanity in its inherent criticism of existing social human interactions, conditions, and societies. Similarly, crime fiction shows the dualistic nature of the human race in its portrayal of the basest acts of humanity and the most exemplary human reaction to such acts. Hence, both genres are related in their exploration of the nature of good and evil and, consequently, eminently capable of spurring existential discussions about the role of humankind and our power to influence our surroundings. They both question the essence of the status quo and yield different answers to such essential questions as the nature of personal identities, values, beliefs, and worldviews. Obviously, since they both allow a critique of contemporary society, it is, then, very relevant to ask why one genre is more popular than the other in Scandinavia. This course will attempt to answer that question. It will, furthermore, include an examination of the origins of science fiction and the crime literature genre in a broader historical perspective, drawing on British and American texts and theories. Through the reading of a variety of novels and short stories, as well as viewing of films, the course aims to heighten the ability of the students to engage in analytical and critical thinking, voice coherent argumentation, explore, examine, reason, and write academic essays. The investigation of human issues is relevant to all literature courses; science fiction and crime literature is particularly relevant in its enquiry into human nature for better and worse, and this course will focus on the particular Scandinavian response to the above-mentioned questions as portrayed in two popular culture genres.
Please email aschmidt2@wisc.edu with any questions.
LitTrans 326/ German 325/625- Travel and Dutch Literature Professor
Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor
3 credits, L breadth
meets TR 1:00-2:15
Participants in this course will consider a variety of texts selected from the Dutch-‐language literary tradition that take travel as their topic. While the emphasis will be on contemporary texts, we will also look at select examples taken from earlier periods – a brief excerpt from the Early New period, and a few samples from the Age of Discovery and the period of the Dutch East India Company.
We will look at the techniques, devices, methods and structures that writers employ to entertain, amuse and educate the reader, to provide an aesthetic experience, to challenge the reader, and to consider the “big questions” such as:
*What is travel? Why do we travel?
*Is travel an analogy for life? -‐ an interruption of “normal” life? -‐ a learning experience? (If so – what do we learn?) -‐ an irritant? – a necessary evil?
*Is travel something we can do for pleasure, or for profit? (If so, what kinds of pleasures does it hold? What profits does it afford? And at what cost?)
*What do our mode of travel and/or our experience of travel tell us about ourselves and about our culture? Do we learn about the cultures and people we encounter? About ourselves?
*Can literary treatments of travel substitute for travel? Is the learning, the irritation, the pleasure meant to be transferable? If a writer is able to communicate the outcomes of travel to a given reader, then how is this done?
*What questions should readers ask themselves and each other? What should travelers do and are there practices they should not engage in? Should/How can we define (in)appropriate positions for readers to take?
This course invites its participants to read attentively, to think carefully, and to discuss thoughtfully and vigorously, based on a fascinating body of texts.
LitTrans 334/Scand St 434 3-4 credits
Brantly, TR, 2:30-3:45
Prerequisites: For Scan 434, some knowledge of a modern Scandinavian language is required. All Scan 434 students will take the class for 4 credits. Otherwise students will need junior standing or the consent of the instructor. Just ask. Lit Trans 334 may chose to take the course for 3 or 4 credits.
Language of instruction: English.
Isak Dinesen, alias the Baroness Karen Blixen, is a Danish writer, who lived in British East Africa, and made her international publishing debut in America. Her life inspired the Oscar-winning film Out of Africa and her tale “Babette’s Feast” inspired yet another Oscar-winning film by the same name…the Pope’s favorite film, in fact. This course studies the intricate and fantastic tales that Dinesen wrote, and also looks at her autobiographical novel, Out of Africa, and considers it as both fiction and a piece of colonial literature.
The final grade is determined as follows:
3 credits: Participation (20%), Midterm (30%), Final Exam (50%)
4 credits: Participation (20%), Midterm (20%), Final (35%), Paper (25%)
Texts to purchase:
Seven Gothic Tales
Out of Africa
Winter’s Tales
Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard
Last Tales
LitTrans 343 /Scand 420 The Woman in Scandinavian Literature, 4 credits
Nete Schmidt, MWF 11:00 AM-11:50 AM
Prerequisites: 2 years of a Scand language or equiv
Language of Instruction: English
In this class, we will read and discuss a selection of writings by and about Scandinavian Women from the 19thcentury and till now. We will include short stories, poetry, essays, and some literary criticism. Active participation is encouraged as the class consists of a mixture of lectures and discussions. Through presentations, students will enhance their understanding of and engagement in the materials. The goal is to create a comprehension of the works based on culture, history, and literature. A further important element is drawing comparisons between the Scandinavian Countries and the USA regarding events, cultural backgrounds, and literary expressions of and about women.
Please contact aschmidt2@wisc.edu with any questions.
Lit Trans/ Scand St. 428: Literature and Memory
Krouk, TR 1:00-2:15pm
Prerequisites and target audience: Sophomore standing. Honors optional. For undergraduate majors and non-majors, also open to graduate students
Breadth requirement: L-literature
Language of instruction: English
Description: This course investigates the relations between theories of memory, both individual and collective, and modern literary representations of remembering. We survey seminal conceptions of memory in the interdisciplinary field of memory studies, investigating topics such as nostalgia, trauma, personal and cultural identity, war and Holocaust, sites of memory, and autobiographical narrative. Through the avenues opened up by these theoretical frameworks, we consider the narrative forms as well as the ethical and political dimensions of remembering in major novels by Marcel Proust, W. G. Sebald, Merethe Lindstrøm, and Karl Ove Knausgård.
Assignments include papers, collaborative bibliography, and presentations.