University of Pittsburgh Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Transcription

1 Padunov: RUSS 1210: Fall 2010: Man and Superman 1 University of Pittsburgh Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Russian 1210: Man and Superman: Representations of the Superior Individual in Literature, Film, Philosophy, and Drama Fall Semester 2010 Vladimir Padunov Mondays and Wednesdays 4:30 5: CL 332 CL padunov@pitt.edu I. Credits, Prerequisites, and Format This course carries three credits and satisfies the CGS requirement for second-level literature and comparative foreign culture. It is intended for upper-level undergraduates with prior university-level literature experience and basic writing abilities. The course meets twice a week and combines lectures and discussions. Since participation plays a significant role in determining the final grade, those who, for one reason or another, feel inhibited about sharing their thoughts and opinions with the class are advised to consider finding a less demanding course. II. Course Description and Goals In 1866, in an apartment building in St. Petersburg, Russia, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov decides to rid the world of evil by murdering an old pawnbroker with an axe. The complex actions of this young student the protagonist of Dostoevsky s novel Crime and Punishment (1866) have since inspired a number of texts that address, develop, and re-cast the questions that Dostoevsky raises. These include: Is there such a thing as a superior individual? What traits must one have to become such an individual and who endows him/her with this title? What is the role of motivation in action? Must all action have an underlying rationale, or is gratuitous action possible? What role do the themes of confession and legacy play in the actions of the Superman and his acts of will? What (if anything) are the obligations of the Superman to society? Taking Crime and Punishment as a starting point, this course will trace representations of the superior individual in monumental European texts (literature, film, and drama) from the nineteenth century, with works like Leo Tolstoy s The Kreutzer Sonata (1889), through the twentieth century, with texts such as Hermann Hesse s Demian (1917), Albert Camus s The Stranger (1942), and Alfred Hitchcock s Rope (1948), and ending with contemporary works such as Tom Kalin s film Swoon (1992) and John Logan s play Never the Sinner (1999). As a supplement we will read philosophical and theoretical works by Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others, which specifically address the theme of the literary Superman. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to analyze several philosophical representations of the Superman (e.g. Schopenhauer, Nietzsche) and read literary, cinematic, etc. texts through the filter of these theories; trace the development of the literary idea of the Superman from Dostoevsky through Gide, Hesse, and Camus, identifying representational differences in the work of each; discuss issues of adaptation both 1) synchronically: single-move adaptations, such as adaptation of a single literary work into film or a particular historical event into a drama; and 2) diachronically: tracing the adaptation of an idea or motif throughout the history of literature, film, philosophy, and drama, tracking its mutations over time as it travels across the borders of nations, genres, and periods.

2 Padunov: RUSS 1210: Fall 2010: Man and Superman 2 III. Required Readings (available in the University bookstore) Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. NY: Vintage, Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Ed. George Gibian. Trans. Jessie Coulson. 3 rd ed. NY: Norton, Hesse, Hermann. Demian. Intro. Thomas Mann. NY: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, Texts to be distributed as pdf-files Gide, André. Lafcadio s Adventures. Trans. Dorothy Bussy. NY: A. A. Knopf, Logan, John. Never the Sinner. NY: S. French, Nietzsche, Freidrich. Selections from Beyond Good and Evil. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. NY: Vintage, Selections from Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, Sartre, Jean-Paul. Herostratus. The Wall: And Other Stories. Trans. Lloyd Alexander. NY: New Directions P, Camus The Outsider. Jean-Paul Sartre. Literary and Philosophical Essays. NY: Collier Books, Schopenhauer, Arthur. Selections from The World as Will and Representation. NY: Dover, Shaw, George Bernard. Don Juan in Hell. Man and Superman. NY: Chelsea House, Tolstoy, Leo. The Kreutzer Sonata. The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories. Trans. David McDuff. NY: Penguin, Available in the Media Library or On-line Hitchcock, Alfred. Rope (80 min., 1948). DVD-1324 Kalin, Tom: Swoon, DVD-3759 Kulidzhanov, Lev. Crime and Punishment (221 min., 1970), DVD-2474 Visconti, Luchino: The Stranger, DVD-3123 IV. Suggested Readings Black, Joel. The Aesthetics of Murder: A Study in Romantic Literature and Contemporary Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence: The Theory of Poetry. NY: Oxford UP, Clowes, Edith W. Literary Reception as Vulgarization: Nietzsche s Idea of the Superman in Neo-Realist Fiction. Nietzsche in Russia. Ed. Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1986: Gide, André. Dostoevsky. Norfolk: New Directions Books, Gordon, John Steele. For the Thrill of It. Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder that Shocked Chicago. NY: Harper, Hackel, Sergei. Raskolnikov Through the Looking-Glass: Dostoevsky and Camus. Contemporary Literature 9.2 (Spring 1968): ( Kern, Stephen. A Cultural History of Causality. Science, Murder Novels, and Systems of Thought. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton UP, Levin, Meyer. Compulsion. NY: Simon and Schuster, Richards, David G. The Hero s Quest for the Self. Boston: UP of America, Satten, Joseph et al. Murder without Apparent Motive A Study in Personality Disorganization. American Journal of Psychiatry 117 (July 1960): Spariosu, Mihai I. Nietzsche on Schopenhauer: Can One Construct an Alternative Mentality? The Wreath of Wild Olive. Play, Liminality, and the Study of Literature. NY: State U of NY P, 1997: 3-30.

3 Padunov: RUSS 1210: Fall 2010: Man and Superman 3 V. Attendance Policy Students are expected to attend all classes. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class meeting and students will receive a grade each meeting for participation in the discussions. Any students arriving after attendance has been taken must check in with the instructor at the end of the class or accept being marked absent. Excused absence due to illness personal or in the family must be documented and absent students are responsible for acquiring relevant class notes. All unexcused absences will receive an automatic grade of UA for that session. Four such UA grades will result in an F for the course. VI. Reading and Viewing Assignments: All reading and viewing assignments must be completed prior to the date indicated in the Schedule of Assignments. Students are responsible not only for the physical act of reading the words contained in the assigned texts and watching the films, but also are obligated to reflect on them and be able to discuss the ideas (and events) these words and images signify. Students who have not prepared the assigned readings or viewings for the class meeting receive an automatic grade of F for that day. VII. Course Requirements and Grading Participation (15%) Consistent and intelligent participation in discussions is an essential component of your performance in the class. Students are expected to complete the assignments scheduled for each class meeting (normally this means reading pages or watching an assigned film) and be ready to discuss them intelligently in class on the pertinent day. Participation also involves taking notes during screenings, finding references, asking questions, suggesting interpretations, and raising issues for discussion. You will receive a participation grade (A to F) for every session. Silence during classroom dialogues receives a grade of C ; after five consecutive such grades, silences receive a retroactive grade of D ; and after five more, a grade of F. Quizzes (10%) There will be five unannounced quizzes during the semester. Each quiz will last a maximum of 20 minutes. Quizzes will consist of some of the following: identification, narrative developments, historical or critical commentary, explanation of points in the assigned reading for that day. Students who are absent on the day of a quiz receive no grade on the quiz. No quiz will be re-scheduled and no make-up quizzes are permitted. Essay (25%) Each student will write one six page essay (six pages of text in addition to endnotes and a Works Cited). Students can choose when they want to submit their essay; however, no essays will be accepted after Tuesday 23 November. You are required to use both the sources we have discussed in class and your own outside research. A one-page paper proposal, including a thesis statement, outline of structure, and main texts to be analyzed, is due at least four classes before the paper is to be submitted. Students agree that by taking this course the required essay is subject to submission for textual similarity review at Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of Turnitin.com page service is subject to the Usage Policy and Privacy Pledge posted on the Turnitin.com site. Examinations (25% each) The course includes an in-class midterm and final examination, the dates for which are indicated in the Schedule of Assignments at the end of this syllabus. No make-up examinations will be administered unless students can provide proof of medical incapacitation. The midterm and final examinations will consist of a series of identifications (names, years, titles, events, etc.) and two essay-answers (out of four

4 Padunov: RUSS 1210: Fall 2010: Man and Superman 4 assigned topic-questions). All examination answers must be written in the booklets provided by the instructor. Answers must be written on alternate lines and must be legible. VIII. Academic Integrity By remaining enrolled in the course, students not only agree to abide by the above stipulations, but also understand that the instructor will follow rigorously the rules spelled out in the University's Academic Integrity Policies ( and Procedures ( regarding cheating, plagiarism, etc. It is the students responsibility to familiarize themselves with these regulations and to observe them, and any infraction will be penalized according to these rules. IX. Disability Policy If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 140 William Pitt Union, or (TTY) as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. The Internet address is osaweb/drs/drs.html. X. Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation in class discussion and analysis, the five quizzes, the essay, the midterm, and the final examination. Students are encouraged to consult with the instructor during office hours concerning their work in the course. Grades will be calculated using the following formula: participation (15%), quizzes (10%), essay (25%), midterm (25%), and final examination (25%).

5 Padunov: RUSS 1210: Fall 2010: Man and Superman 5 XI. Schedule of Assignments: week 1: Monday, 30 August: Introduction, syllabus, student information Wednesday, 1 September: Fedor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, part One week 2: Monday, 6 September: No classes Wednesday, 8 September: Fedor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, part Two week 3: Monday, 13 September: Fedor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, part Three Wednesday, 15 September: Fedor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, part Four week 4: Monday, 20 September: Fedor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, part Five Wednesday, 22 September: Fedor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, part Six and Epilogue week 5: Monday, 27 September: Lev Kulidzhanov: Crime and Punishment Wednesday, 29 September: Arthur Schopenhauer: On Ethics week 6: Monday, 4 October: Arthur Schopenhauer: On the Doctrine of the Denial of the Will-to-Live and The Road to Salvation Wednesday, 6 October: Friedrich Nietzsche: excerpts from Thus Spoke Zarathustra week 7: Monday, 11 October: No classes Tuesday 12 October (Monday schedule): Friedrich Nietzsche: excerpts from Beyond Good and Evil Wednesday, 13 October: Leo Tolstoi: The Kreutzer Sonata week 8: Monday, 18 October: IN-CLASS REVIEW Wednesday, 20 October: IN-CLASS MIDTERM week 9: Monday, 25 October: George Bernard Shaw: Act Three of Man and Superman ( Don Juan in Hell ) Wednesday, 27 October: Andre Gide: Book Five of Lafcadio s Adventures ( Lafcadio ) week 10: Monday, 1 November: Hermann Hesse: Demian, chapters 1-4 Wednesday, 3 November: Hermann Hesse: Demian, chapters 5-8 week 11: Monday, 8 November: Alfred Hitchcock: Rope Wednesday, 10 November: John Logan: Never the Sinner week 12: Monday, 15 November: Tom Kalin: Swoon Wednesday, 17 November: Albert Camus: The Stranger, Part One

6 Padunov: RUSS 1210: Fall 2010: Man and Superman 6 week 13: Monday, 22 November: Albert Camus: The Stranger, Part Two Wednesday, 24 November: No classes: Start of Thanksgiving break week 14: Monday, 29 November: Jean-Paul Sartre: Herostratus and Camus The Outsider Wednesday, 1 December: Luchino Visconti: The Stranger week 15: Monday, 6 December: Stavrogin s confession from Fedor Dostoevsky s Demons Wednesday, 8 December: IN-CLASS REVIEW Final examination: : Tuesday, 14 December 12:00 1:50