Unit name | Post Soviet Russian Prose Fiction |
---|---|
Unit code | RUSS30040 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Chitnis |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Russian |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
In this unit, we shall study five novels and/or short story collections published in Russia following the break-up of the Soviet Union. We shall explore how Russian writers reflect and respond to the changing cultural, social and political situation in both their subject matter and style. We shall read a diverse range of works, from anti-utopias and science-fiction to grim realism to detective fiction and comic writing, written by writers seeking to remain faithful to Russia's literary traditions, to adapt to Western and commercial models or to reflect the latest cultural trends. Students will be encouraged to select texts based on their own interests. Suggested works for study (with English titles in brackets) include: Vladimir Makanin: 'Laz' (The Escape Hatch), Viktor Pelevin: Omon Ra or Chapaev i Pustota (The Clay Machine Gun), Iurii Buida: Don Domino (The Zero Train), Boris Akunin: Azazel' (The Winter Queen), Tat’iana Tolstaia: Kys' (The Slynx), Vladimir Sorokin: Led (Ice).
Aims:
Successful students will:
Two seminar hours per week across one teaching block (22 contact hours).
essay 50%, exam 50%
Vladimir Makanin – Laz (translated as The Escape Hatch; available in Russian in any good collection of Makanin’s shorter prose)
Liudmila Petrushevskaia – Vremia-noch’ (The Time is Night)
Viktor Pelevin – Omon Ra
I would like students taking the unit to participate in deciding the other two texts for study, based on their interests and preferences. I therefore include below a longer list of recently translated works, with links to web sites that will give you a sense of what the work is about.
Opinion about the best Russian fiction of the last fifteen years or so has yet to settle, with individual books rather than writers attracting attention. Many commentators are skeptical about the general level of quality, though flawed books are often easier and more interesting to write about. The list below is dominated by fantastic, allegorical, fairy-tale and science-fiction writing, with very little conventional realism, which reflects a general trend in contemporary Russian fiction.
Aleksandr Terekhov – Krysoboi (The Rat Killer)
Vladimir Sorokin – Led (Ice)
Tatiana Tolstaia – Kys’ (The Slynx)
Maria Galina – Givi i Shenderovich (Irramifications)
Dmitrii Bykov – Zh.D. (Living Souls)