This course aims to introduce students, through the analysis of both literary and non-literary texts, slides and films, to the peculiarities of Russian cultural reality and to the significant moments that have characterized its evolution. The course also aims to develop the critical ability of the student to assess the episodes of Russian history.
Course Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
Frontal lessons with Powerpoint presentations and audio-visual material. Reading and ecocritical analysis of excerpts taken from the literary works included in the syllabus of the course. The materials will be available in the online platform Kiro.
Assessment Methods
Oral examination aimed at verifying the notions of history of Russia and of the USSR. The student should be able to know and present the material critically, with good language skills, connecting various topics and ideas.
Texts
Excerpts from the following literary texts:
I. Turgenev, Memorie di un cacciatore F. Dostoevskij, Il sogno di un uomo ridicolo, Diario di uno scrittore A. Čechov, Zio Vanja I. Babel’, Petrolio V. Rasputin, Il villaggio sommerso (reading of the whole book) V. Astaf’ev, Queen Fish Kollektivnye deistvija, "Poezdki za gorod", volume 1, selected actions S. Aleksievič, Preghiera per Černobyl’
P. Josephson, N. Dronin, R. Mnatsakanian, Aleh Cherp, et al., An Environmental History of Russia, Cambridge University Press, 2013
Excerpts from: Heart-Pine Russia: Walking and Writing the Nineteenth Century Forest, di Jane T. Costlow, Cornell University Press, 2012
Visual materials:
Analysis of some paintings by Il’ja Repin, Kazimir Malevič and Igor’ Vuloch
Film: L’addio, Elem Klimov and Larisa Šepit’ko, 1981
Books included in the bibliography are available at the Library of Humanistic Studies (Biblioteca di Studi Umanistici). Materials handed out during the lectures are available on the platform Kiro. Non-attending students or students who are in the conditions described in the innovative teaching document (Allegato A: https://portale.unipv.it/sites/default/files/2023-07/Didattica_Innovativa_Allegato_A.pdf) are kindly asked to contact the professor (roberta.sala@unipv.it)
Contents
History of the Environmentalism in Russian and Soviet culture
The course investigates of the evolution of environmentalism within Russian culture from the second half of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century, through the analysis of some literary works, paintings and movies which prove to be meaningful in order to understand the relationship between human society and natural environment. Besides, by reading some essays and articles in the field of ecology, the management of natural resources by the state and the relationship between human and non-human subjects will be considered.
