SLL 330g – Spring 2017 Professor Thomas Seifrid TTh 11-12 :20 THH 116

Russian Thought and Civilization

What is Russia? To many observers, not least Russians themselves, Russia has long appeared to be an enigma. It continues to play an important and often unpredictable role in international affairs. With its enormous land mass extending from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific it belongs, at least geographically, to both Europe and Asia. Its cultural and religious heritage place it undeniably in Europe, but it has followed a path of historical development distinctly different from that of the western European nations more familiar to us: it belongs to the “other,” eastern Europe that has re-emerged in recent years from the shadows of the Cold War. The need to reinvent the nation’s place in the world following the disintegration of the USSR in 1991 has thrust the dilemma of Russian identity to the fore more forcefully than at any time in the past three hundred years. For these reasons—because Russia invites us to rethink what the term "Europe" means, and because the cultural identity of Russia has once again become important to world affairs—it is vital to understand what Russia is about. This course examines some of the key events in Russia's history that have made it what it is, as well as the sense of Russian identity that has evolved along with them.

There is a Blackboard website devoted to this course at https://blackboard.usc.edu. Please visit the site regularly. The course syllabus, selected readings, and paper assignments will be posted there, as will occasional announcements, links to websites that we want you to view, etc.

Schedule of readings and topics for discussionPlease note: from time to time during the semester it may be necessary to make some adjustments in the syllabus.

January 10 Introduction to the course

MEDIEVAL RUSSIAJanuary 12 The origins of Russia and its christianization

Serge A. Zenkovsky, ed. Medieval Russia’s Epics, Chronicles, and Tales: excerpts from the “Primary Chronicle” (44-58); “Vladimir Christianizes Russia” (65-71); Hilarion’s “Sermon on Law and Grace” (85-90)

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January 17 Forms of early Russian piety: saints’ livesZenkovsky: “The Martyrdom of Boris and Gleb,” “The Beginning of the Kievan Crypt Monastery” (101-8); “The Life of Our Blessed Father Theodosius” (116-34); “Father Sergius of Radonezh” (262-90); “The Life of St. Michael, a Fool in Christ” (300-10).

January 19 Forms of early Russian piety: icons Oleg Tarasov, Icon and Devotion. Sacred Spaces in Imperial Russia, Ch. One, “Venerated Image” (selections; on Blackboard site)

January 24 The Mongol invasionMilner-Gulland and Dejevsky, eds., Cultural Atlas of Russia and the Former Soviet Union 34-87 (to be read by February 2)Zenkovsky: “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” (167-90); “The Battle on the River Kalka and the Destruction of Riazan” (193-207); “Zadonshchina” (211-23).

January 26 The Rise of Moscow and Muscovite ideologyZenkovsky: “The Tale of the White Cowl” (323-32); the correspondence between Prince Andrew Kurbsky and Ivan the Terrible (366-76).

Ju. M. Lotman and B.A.Uspenskij, "The Role of Dual Models in the Dynamics of Russian Culture” (on Blackboard site)

January 31 film Andrei Rublev (excerpts)

PETER THE GREAT AND THE WESTERNIZATION OF RUSSIA

February 2

February 7 Peter’s greatest creation: the city of St. Petersburg

Grigory Kaganov, "In this Petrine City," ch.one of his Images of Space (on Blackboard site)

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Peter I and his reformsCultural Atlas of Russia and the Former Soviet Union 88-99;Feofan Prokopovich, "Sermon on the Interment of Peter the Great" (on Blackboard site)

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February 9 Aleksandr Pushkin, "The Bronze Horseman," in George Gibian, ed., The Portable Nineteenth-Century Russian Reader 8-21

THE IMPERIAL ERA: Russia as A European Power

February 14 19th-century debates over Russian identity: a Westernizer’s viewPeter Chaadayev, Philosophical Letters, Letter One (on Blackboard site)* 1st essay due

February 16 19th-century debates over Russian identity: a Slavophile view Ivan Kireevsky, “On the Nature of European Culture and On its Relationship to Russian Culture” (on Blackboard site)

February 21 Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, Part I

February 23 Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, Part II

February 28 Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilych” (437-89) in Gibian, ed., The Portable Nineteenth-Century Russian Reader

March 2 Midterm exam

SOVIET RUSSIAMarch 7 The Revolutions of 1917

Cultural Atlas of Russia and the Former Soviet Union, 142-71

March 9 Evgeni Zamyatin, “The Cave” (90-102) in Brown, ed., The Portable Twentieth-Century Russian Reader

{March 13-17: Spring recess}

March 21 Fyodor Gladkov, Cement, chs. I-X

March 23 Gladkov, Cement, chs.XI-XVII

March 28 Yuri Olesha, Envy, Part One (230-93) in Brown, ed., The Portable Twentieth-Century Russian Reader

March 30 Olesha, Envy, Part Two (293-362) in Brown, ed., The Portable Twentieth-Century Russian Reader

April 4 Stalinism

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Cultural Atlas of Russia and the Former Soviet Union 172-84;Sheila Fitzpatrick, chs. 4 (“The Magic Tablecloth”) and 8 (“A Time of Troubles”) in her Everyday Stalinism (on Blackboard site)

April 11 Destalinization and the “Thaw”Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

April 13 Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, cont’d.

April 18 Solzhenitsyn, “Matryona’s Home” (419-64) in Brown, ed., The Portable Twentieth-Century Russian Reader

April 20 The Brezhnev eraYuri Trifonov, The Exchange

April 25 Yury Trifonov, The Exchange

April 27 Conclusions*second essay due

Final examination: Tuesday, May 9, 11 am – 1 pm.

Contact information:

Professor Seifrid, THH 255gemail: seifrid@usc.eduDepartment of Slavic Languages and Literatures: 213-740-2735Office hours T Th 1:30-2:30 and by appointment

Requirements for the course

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April 6 Stalinism: iconography, values:Vladimir Paperny, Architecture in the Age of Stalin: Introduction, Ch. One, (excerpts, on Blackboard site)

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Attendance at all meetings of this course, both lectures and discussion section, is mandatory. For each class we expect you to have read the assigned material and be prepared to discuss it. We strongly recommend that you take notes as you read the assigned works and during our class discussions of them.

Readings: unless otherwise indicated, all works listed above on this syllabus are required and should be available in the University Bookstore. Selected readings are available in .pdf form on the Blackboard website for the course.

Written work: two essays, due on February 14 and April 27. Specific assignments for these will be given in class. NB: Late papers will be marked down one letter grade for every day they are late—counting weekends—and may be returned without extensive comments.

Examinations: one midterm exam on March 2; and a final exam on Tuesday, May 9, 11-1.

Grade distribution: participation in class discussions, preparedness: 10%; essay no.1, 20%; essay no.2, 25%; midterm exam, 20%; final exam, 25%.

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Support Systems A number of USC’s schools provide support for students who need help with scholarly writing. Check with your advisor or program staff to find out more. Students whose primary language is not English should check with the American Language Institute http://dornsife.usc.edu/ali, which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for international graduate students. The Office of Disability Services and Programs http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.htmlprovides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange the relevant accommodations. If an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible, USC Emergency Information http://emergency.usc.edu/will provide safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued by means of blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technology.

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