This Course will explore Modern Russian Culture, from 1960s to the present time, through the most significant cultural themes of the period (such as feminism, social criticism, sexual revolution, westernization, etc) as manifested in Russian literature, cinema, and visual art.

In Russian culture, literature has been viewed as a both national consciousness and conscience. Cinema being both most important and also most mobile media has persistently reacted on variety of events that tormented Russian society through its history. In the second half of 20th century after the death of Josef Stalin, a partial warming of the political climate was introduced to the Soviet State. This warming (the Thaw) made possible the emergence of political and intellectual opposition to the Soviet regime, varied from the Dissident Movement, Non-Conformist Art and Literature to more private ways of abstention from officially backed forms of social life. Between 1986 (the beginning of Glasnost') and 1991 (Soviet Union abolition) literature and art became less politically engaged yet retained the power of social influence. Russian art and literature after 1991 underwent some important changes becoming even more politically divided, more pragmatic and more open to the world. Some changes are still in store.

The course is intended for the general student audience and does not require any previous experience or background in Russian Culture. In this class students will explore and discuss selected works of the most significant Russian writers and film directors of the second half of the 20th century; the students will be also introduced to the Russian contemporary visual art. The literary and cinematic material will be analyzed in terms of both its structural organization and social significance.

The goals of the course are:
:: to familiarize students with Russian literature, visual art, and cinema
:: to acquire understanding of major artistic works of the period
:: to explore historical processes and dynamics of social changes described above.

READING LIST [in the alphabetical order]

1. Aksyonov, Vassily. Say Cheese.
2. Akunin, Boris. The Death of Achilles.
3. Dovlatov, Sergei. A Foreign Woman.
4. Erofeev, Venedikt. Moscow to the End of the Line.
5. Rubinshein, Lev. Selected short stories (From Chasing a Hat and Other Texts)
6. Limonov, Edward. It's Me, Eddie: A Fictional Memoir.
7. Mamleev, Yuri. Selected short stories (From The Sky Above Hell and Other Stories)
8. Pelevin, Viktor. Selected short stories (from The Yellow Arrow)
9. Petrushevskaya, Ludmila. Selected short stories (from Immortal Love)
10. Prigov, Dmitriy. Selected poems (from Fifty Drops of Blood)
11. Sorokin, Vladimir. The Queue.
12. Strugatsky, Arkady and Boris. Roadside Picnic.
13. Tolstaya, Tatyana. Selected short stories (from On The Golden Porch)
14. Ulitskaya, Ludmila. Sonechka.

In addition to regular attendance and active participation in discussions, students are responsible for the assigned reading which is due on the day of the corresponding lecture. Students are also required to attend out-of-class film screenings at announced times. Written assignments for the course are: film reviews (1 page in length, due on the day of the discussion), midterm paper (5-7 pages in length) and final paper (8-10 pages in length). Both midterm and final are take-home assignments. Suggested paper topics will be announced during the fourth week of classes. Students are welcome to modify a given topic or suggest their own, (with a prior approval of the instructor).

The final grade will be calculated based on attendance (10%), participation (10%), film reviews (20% in total), midterm (30%) and final papers (30%).

• lectures
• discussions
• screening sessions
• images presentations