Ordered on Dec
The Second World War in Russian Literature & Film: Comparative Perspectives
(860:320 and 195:397)
Professor Emily Van Buskirk M 4:30-5:50 Murray 112
Department of Germanic, Russian, W 4:30-5:50 or -7:30 (2x/mo.) Scott 221
and East European Languages and Literatures
Department of Comparative Literature
Office Hours: Wednesday 3-4pm (195 College Ave. Rm 203)
evanbusk@rci.rutgers.edu
732-932-7201 (main office in the dept.)
The Second World War is known as the “Great Patriotic War” in Russia, and has a particularly powerful legacy there. This war, in which the Soviet people suffered unspeakable losses on the road to victory (roughly twenty million dead), continues to occupy the public consciousness today, through commemoration and reflection in personal and state rituals, as well as cultural productions. The goal of this course is to interpret the Russian experience and memory of World War II through a study of literature, film, diaries, and journalistic accounts. We will focus on issues of narrative, memory, and the formation of cultural myths (including those around gender and national identity). The topic of war will also serve as a window onto literary politics, as we study differences in expression and in censorship of war themes from the forties through the eighties. Arriving at the present, we will try to understand the meanings of the war in contemporary Russian culture.
Our course material will be drawn from literature and film, both of the war era and the post-war period, and from propaganda (posters, radio broadcasts, and songs). There will be an extra class period twice a month for film screenings.
All readings and discussions will be in English. There are no prerequisites.
Course materials
The following books are on order at the Rutgers University Bookstore:
Required:
Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate, trans. Robert Chandler (ISBN 9781590172018)
Lev Tolstoy, Sebastopol Sketches, trans. David McDuff (ISBN 0140444688)
Bohumil Hrabal, Closely Watched Trains, trans. Edith Pargeter (ISBN 0810112787)
Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, trans. Giulio Einaudi (ISBN 0684826801)
Recommended:
Nina Tumarkin, The Living and the Dead: The Rise & Fall of the Cult of World War II in Russia (ISBN 0465041442)
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (ISBN 0072484551)
All other readings will be available on sakai.
Course requirements (and percentages of the grade)
Attendance (see also the note under “course policies”) 10%
Active participation 10%
Mid-term exam in class on Monday, March 8 10%
First 4-5 page paper due in class on Monday, March 1 20%
Second 4-5 page paper due in class on Monday, April 19 20%
10-minute oral presentation 5%
Final exam 25%
Schedule of assignments and class meetings (subject to change):
Week 1
Wednesday January 20 Introduction of the course, mapping the history of the war
Propaganda posters (“The Motherland is Calling” and others)
Week 2: Wartime poetry and song
Monday January 25 Songs in class: Holy War (1941), New Soviet State Anthem (1944), “Katiusha” (1938)
Reading: William Fuller, “The Great Fatherland War and Late Stalinism, 1941-1953” (374-405)
Wednesday January 27 Konstantin Simonov, “Remember, Alyosha” (1941), “The Blind Man” (1943), “Wait for Me” (1941)
Orlando Figes, “‘Wait For Me’ 1941-1945” (379-454)
In Class: Mark Bernes: “Dark is the Night” (1942)
Week 3: Historical models
Monday February 1 Historical perspectives: Lev Tolstoy, Sebastopol Sketches (“Sebastopol in December, 1854” and “Sebastopol in May, 1855”)
Wednesday February 3 Film screening and discussion:
Sergei Eisenstein, Alexander Nevsky (1938 / 111 min.)
Reading: Robert Rosenstone, “The Historical Film: Looking at the Past in a Postliterate Age” (45-79)
Week 4: Early Post-War Narratives
Monday February 8 Reading: Andrei Platonov, “The Return” (1946) (27 pages)
In class: Iurii Norstein, Tale of Tales (1979 / short excerpt)
Wednesday February 10 Reading: Valentin Kataev, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven” (1946)
In class: discussion of music by Prokofiev, Shostakovich
Week 5: The Cult of a Leader
Monday February 15 Reading: Nina Tumarkin, The Living and the Dead, 81-105; Boris Slutsky, “God” (1950s, pub. 1962)
In class: Excerpts from Eisenstein, Ivan the Terrible (1945/1958), discussion of paintings by Aleksandr Laktionov, Arkady Plastov, and Aleksandr Deineka
Wednesday February 17 Film screening and discussion:
Mikhail Chiaureli, Fall of Berlin (1949 / 151 min.—of which we will watch approx. 80 min.)
Week 6: The Leningrad Blockade
Monday February 22 Reading: Olga Berggol’ts, “Conversation with a Neighbor” (1941), “A Wish” (1943) “Blockade Swallow” (1946)
Vera Inber, Leningrad Diary (1946) (excerpts)
In class: images of the siege
Wednesday February 24 Lydia Ginzburg: Blockade Diary, Part 1
Week 7: The Leningrad Blockade
Monday March 1 Lydia Ginzburg, Blockade Diary Addenda
FIRST PAPER DUE IN CLASS
Wednesday March 3 Film screening and discussion:
Sergei Loznitsa, Blockade (2006 / 52 min.)
Reading: selections from Writing the Siege of Leningrad
and Book of the Blockade, ed. Granin and
Adamovich
Week 8: Comparative Perspectives
Monday March 8 Mid-term exam
Wednesday March 10 Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz (1947, revised 1958)
****************************** SPRING BREAK *******************************
Week 9: The Thaw: Cinema, Poetry, Song
Monday March 22 Reading: poetry of Boris Slutsky
“The Pit of Cologne” (written during the war, published in 1956), “Hospital” (published in 1957), “Clerks”, “The Bathhouse” (pub. 1955), “Politruk” (censored version pub. 1964), “Filled with the Final Weariness,” “There was a time I spoke in Russia’s name” (1956), “A Snowman for Free” (written in late 60s, pub. 1988), “The first day of the war” (pub. 1970) “I didn’t turn my back” (pub. 1957), “The things a major can expect” (pub. 1990) “To Olga Berggolts” (pub. 1956), “Illness” (pub. abroad 1969, in Russia 1989), “About the Jews” (pub abroad 1961, in Russia 1987)
David Samoylov “The Forties” (1961) and “The Ballad about the German Censor” (1961)
Tumarkin: 105-124
Wednesday March 24 Film screening and discussion:
Mikhail Kalatozov, The Cranes are Flying (1957 / 95 min.)
In class: songs and poems of Bulat Okudzhava: “Song of the Soldier’s Boots,” 1957; and Vladimir Vysotsky: “I Grew Up in the Leningrad Blockade,” 1962, “He Didn’t Return from the Fight,” 1969
Week 10: Prose of the Thaw
Monday March 29 Reading: Mikhail Sholokhov, Fate of a Man (1957) (and Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s critique from Gulag Archipelago)
Wednesday March 31 Reading: Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate (19-135)
Week 11: Narrative in Prose and Film
Monday April 5 Reading: Grossman, Life and Fate (136-261)
Wednesday April 7 Film screening and discussion:
Grigorii Chukrai, Ballad of a Soldier (1959 / 88 min.)
Week 12: Tolstoyan Canvas, Post-Tolstoyan Ethics
Monday April 12 Reading: Grossman, Life and Fate (261-322)
Grossman, excerpts from A Writer at War
Newspaper articles by Konstantin Simonov and Ilya
Ehrenburg (from In One Newspaper: a Chronicle of Unforgettable Years)
Wednesday April 14 Reading: Grossman, Life and Fate (325-343, 391-411, 529-
555)
Week 13: Children at War
Monday April 19 Reading: Vladimir Bogomolov, “Ivan” (1959) (68 pages)
In class: Rezo Chkheidze, Father of a Soldier (1965 / short excerpt)
SECOND PAPER DUE IN CLASS
Wednesday April 21 Film screening and discussion:
Andrei Tarkovsky, Ivan’s Childhood (1962 / 95 min.)
Reading: article on Tarkovsky (TBA)
Week 14: Comparative Perspectives: Czechoslovakia
Monday April 26 Reading: Bohumil Hrabal, Closely Watched Trains (1964)
In class: excerpt of the film version dir. Jiří Menzel
Wednesday April 28 The rise, fall, and rebirth of the Russian cult of war?
Reading: Tumarkin, The Living and the Dead, 125-201
Week 15: Conclusions and further reflections
Monday May 3 Possible reading TBA
FINAL EXAM: MAY 7, 4pm-7pm
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance
All students must attend regularly and arrive prepared. Those who miss more than two class sessions without a compelling excuse (a doctor’s or college dean’s note, for instance) should expect a one-point reduction in the course grade for every two absences. (Example: a student with 4 absences would receive a two-point penalty off of the final grade). Three late arrivals count as one absence. Note: It is the responsibility of students who have been absent (for any reason) to find out what they have missed and obtain materials that may have been handed out.
Late Papers
Late papers, without a compelling excuse, will be marked down by 5 points per week.
Cell phones
Silence phones before class, and please, no text messaging!
Grades
Throughout the semester, you will receive number grades. Your final letter grade will be computed using the following conversion scale:
A = 90-100 B+ = 85-89 B = 80-84 C+ = 75-79 C = 70-74 D = 60-70
Photocopies
Department photocopying fees add up quickly and impressively; we will therefore need to collect from each student 5 cents per page toward the cost of handouts other than the syllabus, quizzes and tests.
Online course materials
Please note that our course will have its own website on . You can log on using your Net ID and password. If the course does not appear as one of your tabs, please search and add it or contact me and I will grant you access. Much of the reading will be available via Sakai and you are required to print and bring those readings to class on the scheduled days as part of your class participation grade. Please check Sakai frequently for updates, announcements, and resources. You can also communicate with your classmates via Sakai in the Chat Room.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is an extremely serious matter, and can lead to a student’s failing the course and being referred to his or her dean for disciplinary action. When referring to ideas other than your own, always acknowledge your sources clearly and completely, whether you are quoting or paraphrasing. Please see the University’s policies on academic integrity at , and discuss with your instructor any questions you may have about this and related issues.
Disability Support Services
Students who may be requesting accommodations due to disabilities are encouraged to familiarize themselves with procedures and policies regarding disability support services at the following website: . It is recommended that students seeking accommodations begin filing paperwork as soon as possible as the documentation review process may take up to 30 business days. Students are encouraged to speak with teachers about these issues at the beginning of the term. All such conversations will be kept strictly confidential.
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