RUSS 378 - Late Tolstoy: From Anna Karenina to a Religious Teaching

The course explores the later period of Leo Tolstoy’s career, from Anna Karenina (1870s) to his late fictional works, such as “The Death of Ivan Ilych” (1886) and “Hadji Murat” (1904), and his aesthetic, ethical, theological, as well as political writings. We will study Tolstoy’s transformation from a fiction writer to a moral theorist and religious activist as we pay special attention to Tolstoy’s doctrine of nonviolence and his antiwar writings. Apart from a study of Tolstoy’s poetics and ideology, we will engage a number of cultural contexts for his works: Russian political and intellectual history, aesthetic and artistic developments in late nineteenth-century Russia, Tolstoy’s role and reputation in Russian society, his impact on anti-racist, anticolonial, and pacifist movements around the world. The workload includes extensive reading, oral presentations, and several writing assignments. All readings and discussions are 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: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 378
Notes: Conducted in English. Students meet in extra sessions with readings and discussions in the original language.
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).