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This module analyses developments in Russian literature after Stalinism, covering major literary texts and events in Russian cultural history from 1953 to the present, with a brief look at the period immediately preceding the post-Stalin era. Each week is devoted to a particular text or author, but certain themes recur throughout the course, including: emigration and exile; the boundaries between published and unpublished literature; experimentations in literary form; the effects of ideological and political change on literary production; and writers’ involvement in (or withdrawal from) politics.

Learning Outcomes

• Provide students with a thorough knowledgeÌýof late-Soviet and post-Soviet literary andÌýcultural history, through the study of a wideÌýrange of important texts and authors.
• Deepen students’ understanding of theÌýcomplex nature of late-Soviet and post-Soviet cultural production and culturalÌýpolitics, with particular reference to theÌýfollowing historical and cultural phenomena:ÌýSocialist Realism and Soviet ideologicalÌýcontrols; dissidence; emigration; samizdatÌý²¹²Ô»å tamizdat; the end of Soviet censorshipÌý²¹²Ô»å the fall of the Soviet Union; theÌýcommercialisation of Russian and otherÌýformer-Soviet culture industries; the currentÌýstate of the culture industry in Russia; theÌýlegacy of Russian and Soviet imperialism onÌýcontemporary culture in Ukraine, the BalticÌýcountries, Central Asia, Georgia, andÌýBelarus.
• Develop students’ skills in close reading ofÌýliterary and non-literary texts (includingÌýhistorical documents and memoirs), and theirÌýcompetence in the use of literary theory,Ìýincluding gender theory, post-modernist andÌýpost-colonial theory.

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