RU4554 Utopia/Dystopia in Russian Literature and Culture

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Module description

This module is designed to build on the knowledge of Russian literature acquired at subhonours and honours level and, more specifically, to explore utopian and dystopian ideas in Russian culture as they have developed from the 19th to the 21st Century. Literary texts by canonical Russian writers will be studied, including works by Fyodor Dostoevskii, Evgeny Zamiatin, Andrei Platonov and Vladimir Makanin. Students will also be encouraged to critically reassess the canon and to examine utopian thinking though a range of cultural mediums, including art, theatre, architecture and cinema, in which a greater plurality of voices, genders and ethnicities are represented. Students are asked to engage critically with utopian/dystopian concepts and to question their role in shaping societies and identities. There will be an opportunity for students to produce their own utopian or dystopian-inspired piece of creative work (i.e. prose, poetry, film etc.), assessed by a reflective commentary.