Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0170 - Through the Twisted Mirror

While Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in the 19th century and Socialist Realists in the 20th century defined form and content of the Russian and Soviet literatures, two writers whom we will read closely for this course observed, commented on and derided construction of the canon while sitting--as Cheshire cat once did--on the imaginary clouds of the self-imposed marginality. Both created their most famous works in the exile, both played with limits of language, traditional morale and gender, both were eccentric, provocative, unique and highly influential. In our readings we will move between the celebrated texts, such as Gogol's "Overcoat" and Nabokov's "Pnin" to the lesser known works of various genres: short stories, essays, letters and interviews. We will also watch several film adaptations of Gogol's and Nabokov's texts attempting to answer the question: how--if at all--notoriously playful stylistic literary choices can be "translated" for the screen? Our protagonists--who saw themselves as eccentrics and were seen in equal measures of awe and animosity by others--should help us define what it means to be different within a discourse and a culture.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Writing and Research Multiple Cultural Perspectives In this course students are expected to spend 6 hours of preparation and work weekly outside of class time.