RUSS 325 - Soviet World Literature: International, Multinational, National

Maxim Gorky famously declared in 1934 that “Soviet literature is not merely a literature of the Russian language.” This course is an exploration of the diverse literary and cultural forms that flourished under the Soviet state projects of multinationalism and internationalism. We will study the lives and works of writers from Soviet republics in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Siberia, with particular attention to questions of national identity and tensions between the promises of Soviet liberation and the realities of oppression and state violence. Additionally, we will consider works by “fellow travelers” who spent time in the Soviet Union, such as travelogues by Langston Hughes and Audre Lorde, and novels by Nâzım Hikmet (Turkey) and Ismail Kadare (Albania). Additional theoretical readings, scholarly literature, and historical documents - from political speeches to memoirs and manifestos - will help us critique ideologies of multinationalism and internationalism, and reflect on the ways ethnic, national, and class-based identities were imagined, codified, enacted, and enforced by institutions and individuals in the attempt to build a Soviet world. An additional weekly session will be scheduled for students taking the course for Russian credit.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): For Russian credit: RUSS 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 360
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).