Comparative Literature 391LW - Love&War:20thCenturyPolsh&Russ

Fall
2014
01
3.00
Barbara Bolibok
TU TH 11:30AM 12:45PM
UMass Amherst
70672
In this course we will read masterpieces of twentieth century Polish and Russian literary traditions. Although Polish and Russian belong to the same linguistic family of Slavic languages and hence share some cultural affinities, historically Poland and Russia have occupied two opposing ends on the geopolitical spectrum. Both countries experienced great historical upheavals and collective traumas: foreign invasions, loss of statehood, revolution, world wars, and the violence of Fascism and Stalinism. The theme of History as impersonal violence is represented in the literature of both countries and is often juxtaposed by a traditional love story, the quintessential experience of individual life. While reading representative works from each tradition, we will try to explore the relationship between history (as impersonal force) and love (meaning of individual life). Under Communism, the state in both countries targeted writers to legitimize the ruling ideology by imposing censorship. Often Polish and Russian writers defied state censorship in their work by relying on allusion, irony, parody, political satire, and metaphor to comment on the complex political and cultural reality in which they lived. Keeping in mind their distinct histories and cultural traditions, we will read works by major twentieth century Polish and Russian writers to see what other common philosophical themes and artistic concerns can be traced in the cultural production of these two neighboring Eastern European countries. Among the Russian writers we will read Borys Pasternak, Evgeny Zamyatin, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Mikhail Bulgakov, Osip Mandelshtam, and Tatyana Tolstaya. Writers from the Polish tradition will include Bruno Schulz, Slawomir Mrozek, Stanislaw Lem, Wislawa Szymborska, Pawel Huelle, and Olga Tokarczuk.
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.