RUSS 386 - Tolstoy and War

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a dedicated military man in his youth, yet in his later years he went on to become the world’s leading pacifist. Tolstoy gained early literary fame with The Sebastopol Sketches (1855), documenting his experience of the Crimean War, and later explored Russia’s imperialist conquests of the Caucasus in The Cossacks (1863) and Hadji Murat (1896-1904). Most significantly, he examined the psychological, political, and philosophical dimensions of war in his great epic novel War and Peace (1867), set during the Napoleonic wars. In this course, we will examine Tolstoy’s treatments of war by reading War and Peace in its entirety, as well as his other major fiction and nonfiction texts concerning war, military, and militarism. In our investigation of Tolstoy’s poetics, philosophy, and politics, we will pay particular attention to the relevance of his insights for today’s world, which is still scarred by war and imperialist conquest. We will also discuss Tolstoy’s formidable contribution to the cause of peaceful social change. 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
Prerequisite(s): For Russian credit: RUSS 220 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 386
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).