109-212 Russian C19th Literature and Society

European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed first-year European studies, see Prerequisites.

This subject is an introduction to Russian culture and society in the 19th century through the study of literary texts against a background of Russian and European artistic and intellectual movements (Romanticism, Realism, 'Nihilism', 'new art' at the turn of the century). Students who complete the subject should have become familiar with selected major texts of the 19th century Russian literary canon, and be able to critique these through contemporary critical theory and in an interdisciplinary context which draws on philosophy and the arts in European culture in general. The texts are studied in English, but students specialising in Russian language read specified texts in the original.

4000 words of written work.