russ 689 - syllabus

7/18/2019 RUSS 689 - Syllabus

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RUSS 689

R USSIAN SYMBOLIST POETRY

GRADUATE SEMINAR

FALL 2013

THURS 2:30 – 4:20 HGS 217B

MARIJETA BOZOVIC

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/,+01,23 (-2 4,*'&"

5+2-.06,23 (-2 72+.". — !"#$%#& '(%()*+,-*#&

DESCRIPTION:

This graduate seminar explores Russian Symbolist poetry in cultural and international contexts. We will study the

philosophical foundations (Nietzsche, Solovyov); the preoccupation with various temporalities (modernity); the

longing for total art (Wagner) bounded by lyric form; aestheticism; utopianism; decadence; and other topics. Our

readings include the works of Vladimir Solovyov, Valery Briusov, Konstantin Balmont, Fedor Sologub, Zinnaida

Gippius, Mikhail Kuzmin, Viacheslav Ivanov, Andrei Bely, and Aleksandr Blok—as well as of “post-Symbolists”

Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, and Marina Tsvetaeva. Our approach emphasizes prosody,

genre, and medium as well as the dissemination of ideas across media and cultures; our weekly practices will

involve close reading, research, theoretical reframing, and ongoing collaborative participation and presentations.

R EQUIREMENTS:

Seminar requirements include challenging reading assignments and excellent preparation for each discussion. You

will be asked to post a close reading, response, or intervention (approximately 4–6 paragraphs; other media also

welcome) based on the readings prior to each session; we will experiment with social media platforms as part of our

ongoing collaborative attempt to enhance and extend discussion—and to think about medium and technology even

as we try to find creative ways to misuse the latter. Other assignments include short presentations on meter and

translations; a topic proposal for the final course assignment; and a final paper written in conference presentation

form. We will deliver these papers in an informal setting at the end of the semester: the goal is for each student to

leave the course with a ready original, beautifully written, and practiced conference paper on Russian poetry.

TOPICS:

Aug. 29 Symbolist moment; Symbolist strains

• Edmund Wilson, Axel’s Castle, “Symbolism” [3-21]

• Charles Russell, Poets, Prophets & Revolutionaries, “Theory of the Avant-Garde” [3-38]

• Charles Baudelaire, "Correspondances”

• Walter Benjamin, "On Some Motifs in Baudelaire” [313-355]

• Olga Sedakova, Poetika «./-0(1-$,+ .(*%/-+,/ , %2--*+& 3+45##» [246-277]

• Bely, “6#",+0#5" */* "#%+3+7#"/7#(” [15 pp.]

• Avril Pyman, A History of Russian Symbolism, “Prologue” [1-16]



2

Sep. 5 Prosody and form

• M.L. Gasparov, A History of European Versification, “Introduction” + “Russian Syllabic

Verse” sections [1-10; 225-237]

• M.L. Gasparov, !2.+ 8 -3"-$ , «8,(1(7#(» + «90/,/ 2: :+ ,(;(%/" 7/1

%(-$+%/7/"#…» [9-18; 33-49]

• Barry Scherr, Russian Poetry: Meter, Rhythm, Rhyme, selections [1-20; 40-125; 126-192,

esp. section on dol’nik ] * skim

• Yuri Lotman, 9 6':.,; 8 6':488, «6$%2*$2%/ -$#</» [44-80; 107-127]

• Assignment: scan and analyze a poem of your choice; translate it into English—in meter

Sep. 12 Solovyov

• Solovyov, «'#0=& 1%2>, #0? $= 7( ,#1#@?…», «A B/%#B= "+(&…»,

«:/7"+7>+0#5"», «C%# ,-$%(;#»

• Solovyov, <3"-$ $=>(8 [30 pp.]

• Olga Matich, Erotic Utopia, “The Meaning of Meaning of Love” [57-88]

• Andrzej Walicki, A History of Russian Thought , “Vladimir Soloviev and Metaphysical

Idealism” [371-394]

• Pyman, “The new poetry in St. Petersburg” [38-55]

• Irina Paperno, “The Meaning of Art: Symbolist Theories,” Creating Life: Aesthetic

Utopia of Russian Modernism [13-23]• Bernice Rosenthal, New Myth, New World , “Symbolists” [33-50]

Sep. 19 Sologub, Gippius, Kuzmin

• Sologub, «:#0#>%#"», «D"#&, B/%EF#& 7/1 ,-(0(77+G…», « H(%$+,= */;(0#»,

«'= — 30(7(77=( 5,(%#», « I +1#7 , J(5J%()7+" "#%(…», «C/", 5/ -$(7+G…»

• Gippius, «:(-7E», «K,($= 7+;#», «L0(*$%#;(-$,+», «:/2*#», «M 3+$+"?», «N,(E»,

«O7/», «.(0GJ+,?»

• Kuzmin, ?$2*-,&#+8)-*82 62-&8 (8=-$230(7#( # +$%=,*#), «P=,/G$ ">7+,(7?E»,

«8= 12"/($(, E ,0GJ0(77=& 3+4$?», «91( -0+> 7/&12…», «'+# 3%(1*#»

• Tomas Venclova, “Q 1("+7+0+>## %2--*+>+ -#",+0#5"/» [32-58]

• Pyman, “The Sophia-myth and the theme of Apocalypse” [226-242]• Matich, “Introduction” + “The Case of Zinaida Gippius” [3-27; 162-211]

• Rachel Polonsky, “Kuzmin’s English Style,” English Literature and Russian Aesthetic

Renaissance [170-187]

• Luc Beaudoin, “Reflections in the Mirror: Iconographic Homoeroticism,” Rereading

Russian Poetry [161-182]

• George Bataille, Introduction + selections [1-34; 64-112; 237-247]

• Matei Calinescu, The Five Faces of Modernity, “The Idea of Decadence” [151-195] *

Sep. 26 Balmont, Briusov

• Balmont, « H(07 $+"0(7?E», « I , 4$+$ "#% 3%#@(0…», « I — #5=-*/77+-$? %2--*+&

"(10#$(0?7+& %(;#…», «Q+,(%», «67()#7*/», « I "(;$+G 0+,#0…», «Q/"=@#»,«R(J(1?», «A%+1=», «:(-7E /%/J/»

• Briusov, «C,+%;(-$,+», «'+#-(&», «:%(1;2,-$,#(», «S7+"2 3+4$2», « I», « I

0GJ0G», «!("+7= 3=0#», «9%E12F#( >277=», «Q+7? J0(1», «62<#( 0#-$?E», «O,

5/*%+&…»

• Briusov, «Q0G;# $/&7» [10 pp.]

• Pyman, “Russian Symbolism Acquires a Name” [56-90]

• J.D. Grossman, “Valery Briusov and Nina Petrovskaia,” Creating Life [122-150]

• Vladimir Markov, “Balmont: A Reappraisal,” Slavic Review (1969) [221-264]

• Polonsky, “Balmont’s Shelley and the sacred books of the East” [69-114]

• Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and Space, “Past, Present, Future” [36-108] *



Oct. 3 Media and Total art

• Pyman, “Collective Creation” [91-122]

• Camilla Gray, The Russian Experiment in Art , selections [29-67]

• John Bowlt, Art, Life, and Culture of the Silver Age, selections [161-294]

• Rosamund Bartlett, Wagner in Russia, “Wagner and Russian Modernism,” [65-116]

• Ada Steinberg, Word and Music in the Novels of Andrei Bely, “On the relationship

between music and poetry,” [3-46]

• film: Evgenii Bauer, Dying Swan (1917)

• McReynolds, "The Silent Movie Melodrama: Evgenii Bauer Fashions the Heroine's Self,"

in Self and Story in Russian History [120-140]

Oct. 10 Ivanov

• Ivanov, «M0?3#&-*#& %+>», «Q%/-+$/», «D#"7#( -+7($=», «T#"-*#( -+7($= I», «O$

*0#*+, 7+;?G 0277+&…», «La Superba», «'(7/1/», «./ J/@7(», « I5=*»,

«O-$%+,/ — -0+,/», «K#*/1=», «Q+;(,7#*# *%/-+$=»

• Ivanov, «!,( -$#<## , -+,%("(77+" -#",+0#5"(» [18 pp.]

• Victor Erlich, “The Symbolist Ambience and Vyacheslav Ivanov,” in Vyacheslav Ivanov:

Poet, Critic, Philosopher [14-24]

• Alexis Klimoff, “The First Sonnet in V. Ivanov’s Roman Cycle,” Ivanov [123-133]

• Markov, “V. Ivanov the Poet: A Tribute and a Reappraisal,” Ivanov [49-58]• Vasily Rudich, “V. Ivanov and Classical Antiquity,” Ivanov [275-289]

• Pamela Davidson, “V. Ivanov and Dante,” Ivanov [147-161]

• Michael Wachtel, Russian Symbolism and Literary Tradition, “Faust and Ivanov’s

Conception of the Symbol” [62-77]

• Wachtel, “Zhiznetvorchestvo” + “Beyond Translation: Novalis” [143-156; 157-180]

Oct. 17 Bely

• Bely, «./ >+%/<», «:(3(0. T+--#E. O$;/E7?(», «8(-(0?( 7/ T2-#», «T+1#7(»,

«'/-*/%/1», «!%25?E"», «U20#>/7-*/E 3(-(7*/», «'+& !%2>», «P2%E», «M-( (/-+)»,

«6(%(7/1/», «D+0+$+( %27+»

• Bely, «'/>#E -0+,» + «R#%#*/ # 4*-3(%#"(7$» [15; 45 pp.]

• Alexander Lavrov, “Bely and the Argonauts’ Mythmaking,” Creating Life [83-121]

• Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope, “Wishful landscape” selections [820-37; 3-22; 41-2]

• Pyman, “A glittering hell” [243-302] *

Oct. 31 • Bely, @.'+,% -83A'&8%

• Bely, «V+%"= #-*2--$,/» [15 pp.]

• Vladimir Alexandrov, Bely: The Major Symbolist Fiction, “Symphonies” [5-9; 26-46]

• Hillary Fink, “Andrei Bely and Music of Bergsonian Duration,” SEEJ (1997) [287-302]

• Sigmund Freud, “From the History of an Infantile Neurosis (‘Wolf Man’)” [27 pp.]

• Assignment: Topic proposal for final papers and discussion

Nov. 7 Blok

• Blok, «8+0?7=( "=-0#», «:%(1;2,-$,2G C(JE», «8 %(-$+%/7(», «.(57/*+"*/»,

«!(,2@*/ 3(0/ , B(%*+,7+" <+%(…», « N/># Q+"/71+%/», «./ +-$%+,/<», «:0E-*#

-"(%$#», «T/,(77/», «O 1+J0(-$E<, + 3+1,#>/<, + -0/,(…», «T/5>+%/G$-E $/&7=(

57/*#…», «8=<+)2 E , $("7=( <%/"=…», «T2-? "+E, )#57? "+E», «:+17#"/0#-? #5

$?"= 3+>%(J+,…», «!,+&7#*», «9/%"+7#*/, >/%"+7#*/», «M77( M<"/$+,+&»

• Lotman, «M.M. P0+*. M77( M<"/$+,+&» [211-220]

• John McKay, Inscription and Modernity, “Kernels of the Acropolis” [140-152]

• Richard Byrns, “The Artistic Worlds of Vrubel’ and Blok,” SEEJ (1979) [38-50]

• Matich, “The Case of Alexander Blok” + “Blok’s Femme Fatale” [89-125; 126-161]



4

Nov. 14 • Blok, «6*#W=»

• Blok, B(2&,#C,.D

• Irene Masing-Delic, Abolishing Death, “Aleksander Blok. The Twelve” [195-221]

• John Garrard, “The Twelve: Blok’s Apocalypse,” Religion and Literature (2003) [45-72]

• Mikhail Bakhtin, «P0+*», <'>+,&82 -'78&2&8% [8 pp.]

• Gary Saul Morrison & Caryl Emerson, Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics,

“Metalinguistics: The Dialogue of Authorship [121-171] *

Nov. 21 No class (ASEEES conference)

Dec. 5 Post-Symbolist

• Blok, «P(5 J+)(-$,/, J(5 ,1+<7+,(7?E. K(< /*"(#-$+,» [7 pp.]

• Gumilev, «./-0(1#( -#",+0#5"/ # /*"(#5"/» [3 pp.]

• Gumilev, «60+,+», «X#%/W», «O5(%+ H/1», «8+0@(J7/E -*%#3*/», «D/J021#,@#&-E

$%/",/&»

• Mandelstam, «60+,+ # *20?$2%/» + «O 3%#%+1( -0+,/» [5; 13 pp.]

• Mandelstam, «8+5?"# 7/ %/1+-$?…», «!/7+ "7( $(0+», «Silentium», «M&E 6+W#E»,

«Notre Dame», «D+0+$#-$+>+ "(1/ -$%2E…», «6(-$%= — $E)(-$? # 7()7+-$?», «8

:($(%J2%>( "= -+&1("-E -7+,/»• Tsvetaeva, <.8;8 * E$'*0 [esp. first 6]

• Akhmatova, 5':3, >24 F2+'%

TBA Final meeting and paper presentation

russ 689 - syllabus

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