RUSS 372 - Russian Literature: Realism

This course is an introduction to the major writers, movements, genres, and works of Russian literature from the early nineteenth century to the immediate prerevolutionary era. With a primary focus on the emergence of realism and its associated thematics, this course includes works of fiction by Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Leskov, and Chekhov, as well as letters and essays by their contemporaries. Secondary readings will offer additional contextual information and critical perspectives on these works and their role in the continued development of a national canon. All readings will be in English translation, and class meetings will be conducted in English. 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 - Arts, Literature, & Philosophy, Distribution Group I - non-English Language
Prerequisite(s): For Russian credit: RUSS 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 372
Not offered: 2026-27
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 or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical or works of the visual or performing arts).
Use a language other than English to understand and convey meaning in spoken, written, or mediated contexts appropriate to the course level.
Analyze how meaning is constructed and negotiated in a language other than English by examining grammatical structures, discourse conventions, or communicative strategies in spoken and written contexts.