Russia: Literature, Film, Identity, Alterity

How do Russian literature and film imagine Russian identity – and, in contrast, the ethnic or national Other?  Does political and literary theory analyzing national identity and the literary imagination elsewhere hold true in the Russian context? Texts include works by Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Blok, Mayakovsky, Platonov; Soviet and post-Soviet films; theory and history.  Recommended for returnees from Moscow, Slavic majors, and CREEES MA students.  Accepted for IR credit.  Readings in English and films subtitled; additional section for Russian readers. Taught in English.