RUSS-487 Imaginary Worlds in Literature and Film

Fedorova, Lioudmila

"Imaginary Worlds” in Twentieth-Century Literature and Film (conducted in English)
This course will focus on the mysterious, irrational, and fantastic: on
Russian science fiction and fairy tales. We will discuss various genres of
science fiction - utopia/antiutopia, adventure story and fantasy – and
examine relations between fantasy and reality, multiple worlds as
different text strata in postmodernist works, and the imaginary world as a
model object of social fears and desires. The capitalist world as a
fictional/fictive realm from the point of view of a Soviet citizen, the
land of the dead, other planets – all these imaginary places are our
objects of interest. We will analyze how literature is translated into
visual language, using the example of Strugatskys' “Roadside Picnic” and
Tarkovsky's film “Stalker”. Readings include novels and stories by
Zamyatin, Platonov, Grin, Shvarts, Efremov, the Strugatsky Brothers,
Voinovich, Pelevin, Makanin, Petrushevskaya. Films used range from early
Soviet science fiction (“Aelita”) to the latest blockbuster “Night
Watch”).

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Other academic years
There is information about this course number in other academic years:

• 2006-2007 Fall and Spring
• 2010-2011 Fall and Spring
• 2011-2012 Fall and Spring
• 2012-2013 Fall and Spring
• 2013-2014 Fall and Spring

More information
Look for this course in the schedule of classes.

The academic department web site for this program may provide other details about this course.