LITTRANS 201/203 – 19 & 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Section 001, MWF 9:55 – 10:45, instructor: Shevelenko, Irina
Section 301, T 9:55 – 10:45, instructor: TBD
Section 302, R 9:55 – 10:45, instructor: TBD
Section 303, T 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: TBD
Section 304, R 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: TBD
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: English
This class as a whole has three major objectives:
- To acquaint students with some of the major literary movements and writers of 19th-Century Russian Literature.
- To acquaint students with the history, culture, and politics of pre-1917 Russia, and show their relevance to the present day.
- To introduce students to various critical approaches to the study of literature and to help them read, analyze, and write about complex literary works.
In addition, the Communications-B sections of this class allow students to work more closely on writing and research. The Teaching Assistants for these sections provide their own syllabus and Course outline.
“If the Russians are mentioned one runs the risk of feeling that to write of any fiction save theirs is a waste of time.” Virginia Woolf’s famous statement refers above all to the 19th-century Russian realist novelists, and their works will be at the center of our course. Works to be studied include poetry and prose by Pushkin, short stories by Gogol’, and novels by Lermontov and Turgenev. A substantial portion of the course will be devoted to two of the greatest novels in world literature – Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. All the works are direct encounters, like all the best works of Russian literature, with the “accursed questions” of life, love, evil, violence, crime, punishment, guilt, redemption, faith, sex, death and the other usual suspects. The main aim of the course is to facilitate and encourage in turn the individual reader’s close encounter with the aesthetics and ethics of these works. This course fulfills the literature requirement, and can be taken for Comm-B credit.
LITTRANS 214 – Literatures of Central Asia in Translation
Section 001, MW 2:30 – 3:45, instructor: TBD
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with LCA 314
This course surveys Central Asian literature in translation. Although the majority of the works are in modern and historical Turkic languages, some works are written in Persian/Tajik while some others were written originally in Russian. The course follows a chronological approach while introducing different genres of literature. It begins with the pre-Islamic period, including the earliest shamanistic times (6th-8th centuries) and the period of Manichaean, Nestorian, and Buddhist influence (9th-10th centuries). It then covers many examples of traditional Muslim Arabic, Iranian, and Turkic literatures in Central Asia broadly defined (11th-19th centuries). It then examines in depth the colonial period, Central Asian literatures in the Soviet Union (20th century) and concludes with a brief examination of the new era of independence (post-1991).
LITTRANS 220 – Chekhov in Translation
Section 001, MWF 1:20-2:10, instructor: Lapina, Galina
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with SLAVIC 420
This course will study the works of celebrated Russian writer Anton Chekhov.
LITTRANS 222 – Dostoevsky in Translation
Section 001, MWF 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: Reynolds, Andrew
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with SLAVIC 422
This course will study the works of celebrated Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.
LITTRANS 223 – Vladimir Nabokov: Russian and American Writings
Section 001, MWF 11:00 – 11:50, instructor: Dolinin, Alexander
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Language of Instruction: English
This course will study the works of Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov.
LITTRANS 233 – Russian Life & Culture (to 1917)
Section 001, MWF 2:25 – 3:15, instructor: Lapina, Galina
Section 301, T 2:25 – 3:15, instructor: Lapina, Galina
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: English
Students enrolled for 3 credits are only required to attend lectures on MWF; students enrolled for 4 credits are required to also the additional discussion section.
LITTRANS 236 – Bascom Course: Gutenberg to iPad: Books/World/Literature
Section 001, TR 9:30 – 10:45, instructor: Mani,B. Venkat
Prerequisites: Successful completion of or exemption from Com A requirement. Open to Fr.
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with GERMAN 236
LITTRANS 247 – Topics in Slavic Literature: Represent Holocaust in Poland
Section 001, TR 4:00 – 5:15, instructor: Filipowicz, Halina
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with SLAVIC 245 section 001 and Jewish Studies 230 section 002
LITTRANS 247 – Topics in Slavic Literature: Russia & the Jews: Literature, Culture, and Religion
Section 002, MWF 9:55 – 10:45, instructor: Zilbergerts, Marina
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: xx
Meets with SLAVIC 245 section 002 and Jewish Studies 230 section 001
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.
Please contact zilbergerts@wisc.edu with any questions
LITTRANS 247 – Topics in Yiddish Culture: Dead Yiddish Poet Society
Section 003, MWF 11:00 – 11:50, instructor: Zilbergerts, Marina
Prerequisites: Open to all students
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with GERMAN 266 section 001 and Jewish Studies 230 section 003
With this new course we will take the art of poetry out of the lecture-hall and into the world.
Our material? The avant-garde masterpieces of Yiddish poetry and their influences.
Our place? Eastern Europe, New York, Tel Aviv, Wisconsin.
Our game? Words.
Our end? Sacred meanings, profane meanings, meanings that go beyond time and place; beauty; structure; new ideas.
The course will train you to experience poetry through speech, performance and writing. We will also take part in the local poetry scene in Madison.
Course Requirements and Assignments:
Weekly assignments: short reflection paragraphs
Midterm and final: essays with an option for creative writing
Events: Attendance of a local poetry reading and a final literary salon
LITTRANS 269 – Yiddish Lit & Culture, Europe
Section 001, TR 1:00 – 2:15, instructor: Hollander, Philip
Prerequisites: Open to all students, knowledge of Yiddish is useful, but not required
Language of Instruction: English
Cross-listed with GERMAN 269 and JEWISH 269
This course investigates how Yiddish culture gave European Jewish life its distinctive stamp. After a brief introduction to Yiddish language and Pre-ModernYiddish culture, it concentrates on the modern period (1864- 1945). In this period, advocates of Yiddish turned it into an independent vehicle describing and detailing every aspect of Jewish life and experience. Focus on this period enables student appreciation of the aesthetic merits of modern literary and filmic texts. Introduction to the work of Yiddish literary pioneers Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh, Yitzhok Leibush Peretz and Sholem Aleichem precedes exploration of Interwar Polish andSoviet Yiddish cultural expression and how divergent cultural contexts produced divergent Yiddish cultural forms. The course concludes with Yiddish literary responses to the Holocaust. Following the persecution and brutal murder of millions of Yiddish speakers, European Yiddish culture withered.
Required Texts:
Singer, Isaac Bashevis. Satan in Goray. Trans. Jacob Sloan. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996.
All other texts will be made available of Learn@UW.
Course Requirements and Assignments:
Student evaluation is based on five activities: Students take proficiency quizzes and write short response papers testing their knowledge of assigned readings and their ability to analyze them; they draft and revise two 2-4 page papers intended to develop their ability to analyze texts; they review their peers’ work to improve their ability to judge writing and improve it through revision; they write a final exam testing their analytical and synthetic skills; they attend class and participate.
Please contact Philip Hollander (phollander@wisc.edu) with any questions.
LITTRANS 270 – German Women Writers in Translation
Section 001, TR 2:30 – 3:45, instructor: Klocke, Sonja
Prerequisites: Open to freshmen. Not open to students who are taking or have taken German 302 or above. Fulfills the humanities breadth requirement and literature requirement
Language of Instruction: English
Cross-listed with GEN&WS 270
Please contact sklocke@wisc.edu with any questions.
Do you like reading novels? Are you particularly interested in reading novels by women? Would you like to learn more about German women’s writing? This term, German Women Writers in Translation focuses on the topic of “Love and Violence.” We will read various contemporary novels on that subject, all written by women with diverse backgrounds. For example, you will become familiar with women writers from East Germany and from West Germany, which means that some of them were socialized in the socialist German Democratic Republic while others were raised in the more capitalist Federal Republic of Germany. Other women writers we read migrated to Germany from Turkey or Russia, and now write in German. Many of the books we want to discuss have won prestigious prizes, and all of them will allow you to expand your horizon with regards to German culture as well as the question: What does it mean to write as a woman? And how does your cultural background influence your writing? In addition to the novels (all easily available in the USA), we will read short texts about women’s writing, gender theory, and narrative texts. All of these will be provided at learn@uw.
Evaluation: Attendance; Participation; Presentation/Group Discussion; Short Essays; Reading Response Posts
Required texts:
- Alina Bronsky, Broken Glass
- Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation
- Julia Franck, Blindness of the Heart
- Emine Sevgi Özdamar, The Bridge of the Golden Horn
- Olga Grjasnowa, All Russians Love Birch Trees
- Juli Zeh, The Method
(Any edition of these texts can be used in this class.)
LITTRANS 271 – Scand Literature in Translation: Middle Ages to 1900
Section 001, TR 11:00 – 11:50, instructor: Mellor, Scott
Section 002, TR 11:00 – 11:50, instructor: Mellor, Scott
Section 301, T 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: TBD
Section 302, M 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: TBD
Meets with SCAND ST 373. Student wishing to take the course for Comm-B credit must enroll in section 301 or 302 for 4 credits and attend lecture and the corresponding discussion section. Otherwise, students should enroll in section 001 for 3 credits and attend only lecture meetings.
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: English
During the late Middle Ages, Scandinavian literature reached its first high point: the Old Norse, or Vikings, sagas and poems. These works supply the starting point for the course, which gives an overview of Scandinavian literature from the sagas to the prose and drama of the golden age of the late 19th century. All genres receive proper attention, and all texts analyzed are firmly located in their historical context, so that the student is able to trace the ways in which literature reflects the sociological changes from a feudal society to the modern industrial world. Among the authors discussed are Kingo, Holberg, Bellman, Blicher, Ibsen, Lie, Strindberg, Lagerlöf, and Hamsun.
LITTRANS 275 – Hans Christian Andersen in Translation
Section 001, MWF 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: Schmidt, Nete
Section 002, MWF 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: Schmidt, Nete
Section 301, F 1:20-2:10, instructor: TBD
Section 302, T 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: TBD
Section 303, T 1:20-2:10, instructor: TBD
Section 304, M 15:30 – 16:20, instructor: TBD
Meets with SCAND ST 475. Student wishing to take the course for Comm-B credit must enroll in section 301, 302, 303, or 304 for 4 credits and attend lecture and the corresponding discussion section. Otherwise, students should enroll in section 001 for 3 credits and attend only lecture meetings.
Prerequisites: Open to Freshman
Language of Instruction: English
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.
All the information is on the instructor’s website: neteschmidt.com
LITTRANS 337 – Scandinavian Fiction in Translation
Section 001, online course, instructor: Brantly, Susan
Prerequisites: Junior Standing
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with SCAND ST 424
This course on the major movements in 19th Century Scandinavian Literature is being taught entirely online. Lecture content is streamed illustrated audio. Students will complete assigned readings, take quizzes and exams, and post to a discussion board. Students taking the class for a 4th credit will write a paper. An honors option is also available.
Weeks 1-5 look at Romanticism, and we will read texts by Andersen, Blicher, Bjornson, and Kierkegaard, among others.
Weeks 6-11 look at the Modern Breakthrough, and we will read texts by Ibsen, Strindberg, Garborg, Jacobsen, and others.
Weeks 10-15 look at the 1890s, including Hamsun, Lagerlöf and a second look at Ibsen and Strindberg.
Required Texts: Some books will be available for purchase, and others through the web site.
LITTRANS 340 – CONTEMPORARY SCANDINAVIAN LITERATURE
Section 001, TR 1:00 – 2:15, instructor: Andersen, Claus
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Meets with SCAND ST 427
Does literature still matter in the 21st century? Can contemporary authors tell us anything new about the world we live in? And are the problems and topics, described by Scandinavian writers, relevant to an American audience? These are some of the questions we will try to answer in this class. We will read a number of new Scandinavian authors and discuss a variety of topics from gender, racism and the welfare state to history and questions of fiction vs. reality. We will look at what is happening in the Scandinavian countries – Norway, Sweden, and Denmark – here in the second decade of the 21st century and look at literature’s role in shaping our current the world. You will also get to the chance to meet a Danish writer, who will come to class and whose first novel is about to be published by of the major publishers here in the US.
Required Texts:
Karl Ove Knausgaard: My Struggle. Vol 1. A Death in the Family
Helle Helle: “This Should Be Written in the Present Tense”
Athena Farrokhzad: White Blight
Dorthe Nors: Karate Chop (excerpts)
Josefine Klougart: One of Us Is Sleeping (excerpts)
Jonas Jonasson: The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Naja Marie Aidt: Baboon (excepts)
David Lagercrantz/Zlatan Ibrahimovic: I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic (excepts)
Stig Larsson: The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo
Tomas Espedal: Bergeners (excerpts)
Mikkel Rosengaard: The Invention of Ana
LITTRANS 342 – In Translation: Mythology of Scandinavia
Section 001, TR 2:30 – 3:45, instructor: Mellor, Scott
Prerequisites: Junior Standing
Language of Instruction: English
Scandinavian Mythology will introduce you to the belief systems of early and medieval Scandinavia in a European Context and take a look at the literary works written by Christian Scandinavians about their former Religion. We will look at the Kalevala, the mythological and heroic poetry of the Edda and the Icelandic legendary sagas, as well as a few early Christian texts.
LITTRANS 454 – History of Serbian & Croatian Literature
Section 001, MWF 12:05 – 12:55, instructor: TBD
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Language of Instruction: English
Meets with SLAVIC 449
This course will survey literary and cultural history of the Slavic peoples who have inhabited the Balkan region its beginnings until the end of the nineteenth century. We will read excerpts from the most important literary works, starting with the medieval documents and ending with the works of romanticism and realism.
LITTRANS 471 – Hist lit polsk do roku 1863
Section 001, MW 5:00 – 6:15, instructor: Filipowicz, Halina
Meets with SLAVIC 470