RUSSIAN LITERATURE 2

The course is entitled "«Doctor Zhivago» by Boris Pasternak: the Novel of an Era". The aim is to reflect on the aspects and problems of Russian culture of the so-called "Silver Age", as well as on the main junctures in Russian history from the tsardom of Alexander III to the end of the Second World War through the perspective of the life and work of one of the greatest authors of the 20th century.

This course is one of the core educational activities of the Degree Course in Language, Civilisation and the Science of Language ("Literatures and Culture" and "International Politics" curricula) that enable students to deepen their knowledge of the literary and cultural heritage of the two chosen languages.

1. Knowledge and understanding
● Acquisition of the basic concepts and "cultural specific items" linked to the history and culture of the period 1890-1945 in Russia.
● Recognition of the main movements of Russian literature and thought of this period.
● Memorize the salient facts of the lives of the two chosen prose authors.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
● Knowledge of how to frame a literary object related to the first sixty years of the twentieth century in its own historical-cultural context.
● Knowledge of how to read and translate a literary text dealt with the teacher and comment on it with an appropriate language.
● Knowledge of how to reconstruct a chronological framework of the main events in Russia from 1890 to 1932.

3. Judgment capacity
● Knowledge of how to formulate and argue simple hypotheses, also developing a critical approach to the evaluation of alternative hypotheses.

4. Communication skills
● Knowledge of how to explain in an appropriate language the specificities of content and historical-literary texts of the program, referring to adequate bibliographic sources.
● Knowledge of how to interact with peers and with the teacher in a critical and respectful way.

5. Learning skills
● Knowledge of how to consult critically the reference texts and the bibliography contained in them by applying the concepts and concepts to the individual research work.

The knowledge of the historic and cultural evolution of Russia from the origins to the Tsardom of Alexander II (as illustrated in the courses of Russian literature 1 and 2).

The core of the course is represented by the close reading of "Doctor Zhivago" (1945-1955) by the 1958 Nobel Prize-winning writer Boris Pasternak (1890-1960). The novel retraces some salient historical events of the period from 1901 to 1945 – the revolution of 1905, the two world wars, the revolutions of February and October 1917, the Russian Civil War – and thus offers numerous insights into the social and cultural life of those years. Drawing on both the novel and Pasternak's biography, as well as his autobiographical prose, the main themes of literary civilisation and intellectual debate in Russian and Soviet culture of the time will also be illustrated. Basic notions on the following topics will therefore be provided in chronological perspective:
- the philosophical and literary currents before the Bolshevik revolution (Russian modernism or "Silver Age": Symbolism, Acmeism, Futurism);
- intellectual life after the revolution (the 1920s);
- the first wave of Russian emigration;
- the closure of free literary associations (1932) and the creation of the Union of Soviet Writers.

For a bibliography of the course in English language, please contact the Lecturer.

The oral exam in Italian has a maximum duration of 30 minutes per student.
The teacher will first propose to the student an extract from one of the PRIMARY TEXTS, asking him/her to comment on it in relation to the stylistic/thematic peculiarities he/she can recognise, as well as with reference to the historical context and, if considered pertinent, to the author's biography. They will then be asked about the other texts (BOTH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY).
You will then have to demonstrate that you
- have read the PRIMARY texts in depth, identifying their salient content and stylistic features also with the help of the critical apparatus of the PRIMARY TEXTS and the essays on SECONDARY TEXTS: A (50%);
- have a clear understanding of the essential framework of the historical, cultural and literary evolution of the period between 1890 and 1932 (30%: prepare on SECONDARY TEXTS. "B" and possibly "C")
- use language that is clear and appropriate to the situation (20%).

Lectures. Students will be required to actively participate in the analysis of texts in the classroom, preferably by reading the bibliography at home in advance. Active engagement at home and in class is considered important in view of an optimal preparation for the examination and for the achievement of the learning objectives. In this regard, students who do not have the opportunity to complete their preparation in the classroom by attending the lectures are invited to have at least one reception with the lecturer (in presence or online).

Italian

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