Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures comprise those programs
which are based on the foreign languages currently taught at Bard: Arabic,
Chinese, French, German, Ancient Greek,
Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Sanskrit, and Spanish. The programs' common philosophy involves the
critical appreciation of one or more foreign cultures and literatures through
the learning and mastery of the language of each. While each program has its own intellectual and academic plan,
the requirements for moderation are similar:
(1) Linguistic
proficiency, based usually on three or more semesters of language study;
(2) Literary
proficiency through completion of at least one course in the foreign
literature, preferably a survey course;
(3) Cultural
proficiency, demonstrated by at least one course in a related area outside of
literature, e.g., philosophy, history, or music.
Course |
FLCL 405 Word and Nationality: Tolerance in Post-Soviet Literature |
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Professor |
Maria Rybakova |
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CRN |
15489 |
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Schedule |
Mon 4:30 – 7:00 pm OLIN 303 |
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Distribution |
OLD: D |
NEW: Foreign
Language, Literature, & Culture
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Cross-listed: Russian and Eurasian Studies
After the USSR was dissolved, it became clear that
Russians still had many features of the “homo soveticus” that had been formed
through the 1930s -70s. Among other things, despite the official ideology of
internationalism and propaganda of “friendship among peoples,” the Soviet and
post-Soviet Russian still exhibited xenophobia, antisemitism, and aggressive
fear of the “other.” He seeks isolation from the world and sees himself as both
underdog and superman at the same time. On the other hand, after the fall of
communist ideology, Russians became better acquainted with religion, the
philosophy of humanism, and the history of their own country. In the present
situation in Russia, “others” are often seen not as neighbors, but as enemies
in the ethnic, sexual, and even aesthetic sense. These feelings have been
intensified by the war in Chechnya and the presence of many refugees and
migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia. On the other hand, many Russians
have themselves had the experience of being foreign workers in or immigrants to
other countries, giving rise to a new sense of the humanitarian aspects and the
overall complexity of the problem. A growing interest in their own land and a
new exploration of Russia by Russians has fueled new explorations of the
concept of Russia as a multi-ethnic country. In this seminar, we plan to
analyze several approaches to the topic of “self” and “other” in contemporary
Russian literature: human (Fasil Iskander, Svetlana Alexievich), dehumanization
(Vladimir Sorokin), suspension of judgement (Vladimir Makanin, Asar Eppel),
grotesque (Viacheslav Pietsukh, Yuri Bujda), adaptation (Anastasia Gosteva),
understanding (Marina Paley), contrast (Liudmila Petrushevskaya),
self-sacrifice (Nina Gorlanova), stress (Anatoly Gavrilov); and, on the other
hand, the Russian himself as “other” in another country (Maria Rybakova).
Students will have the opportunity to present and discuss examples of their own
creative writing. Conducted in English. (A section in Russian will be offered
to fluent speakers.)