In English. No prerequisites.
Love and death are overwhelming experiences that, in many ways, define our orientation toward the world. At the same time, love and death are not always describable within the framework of language. Nevertheless, authors have tried to capture some of their essence for centuries. In this course, we will be reading Russian short stories from the 19th through the 21st centuries that grapple with these two philosophically beguiling ideas. Authors like Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gorky, Arbatova, and others ask: Does love exist and can it be knowable or comprehensible? Is death a self-evident end, or are we always already beings moving toward death from the moment we are born? We will explore these rich themes as offered by Russian writers in their philosophical, political, historical, and social contexts. All readings and discussions in English. No prerequisites.
Required book: Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida, ed. Robert Chandler (ISBN 9780140448467)
Other readings will be available on Canvas.
All readings and discussion in English. Fulfills SAS core goals AH o, p; WC d.
