Interpreting Culture (202-0-1)
Topic
Doctor Zhivago in Cultural and Historical Context
Instructors
Nina Gurianova
847/491-2937
1880 Campus Dr. #3365
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00-2:00pm and by appointment
Meeting Info
University Hall 101: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
BORIS PASTERNAK'S DOCTOR ZHIVAGO: TEXT AND CONTEXT
This course is designed as a following sequence to Slavic 211-1, a general survey of early 20c. Russian Literature, focused on the interconnections between new ideas in culture and politics. It explores in detail the legendary novel Doctor Zhivago (1957), written by the Noble Laureate Boris Pasternak (1890-1960). This major literary work is discussed in the broad Russian and European cultural and historical context of the Cold War era, and we will follow and compare the paths of literary heroes and their real-life prototypes: Pasternak himself and his long-time companion Olga Ivinskaya. Doctor Zhivago was harshly criticized and censored in Soviet Union, then smuggled to the West with the help of the CIA to be preserved and published for the first time, finally becoming a world literary sensation and winning the Nobel Prize (1958). Through the tumultuous publication history of this manuscript, students can gain a foundational knowledge of the history of the Soviet Union, and an understanding of the changes in the literary climate throughout the history of Soviet Russia.
Teaching Method
The course will be conducted by a combination of lecture and discussion, and I expect students to be ready to answer questions in class. This means that it is imperative to read the assigned material before each lecture on it.
There will be an in-class (or take home) midterm exam (30%), final exam (30%), 1 in-class quiz (20%), contributions to discussion, class attendance (20%).
PLEASE NOTE: all requirements are subject to modification by the instructor. Any changes will be announced in advance.
Class Materials (Required)
Required excerpts available as e-files through canvas as of 04.04.2018:
Nikolai Rzhevsky, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Modern Russian Culture (Cambridge UP, 1998) (above referred as MRC)
Edith W. Clowes, ed. Doctor Zhivago: A Critical Companion (Northwestern UP, 1995) (above referred as CC)
Books available through Northwestern Bookstore (or Amazon.com):
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago. Trans. Max Hayward, Mania Harari. (Everyman\'s Library @1991). ISBN-10: 0679407596; ISBN-13: 978-0679407591
Hardcover from $21.99; Paperback from $10.00; Kindle $2.99
Peter Finn, Petra Couvee, The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book (Vintage, 2015)
ISBN-10: 0345803191; ISBN-13: 978-0345803191
Hardcover from $14.96; Paperback from $13.56; Kindle $7.99
Additional Visual and Audio materials will be available on the Canvas.
Class Materials (Suggested)
ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
Biography, chronology, and photographs of Boris Pasternak:
http://pasternak-trust.org/boris/gallery/photographs/
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1958/pasternak-bio.html
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/boris-pasternak
Michael Scammell, "The CIA's Zhivago" (The New York review of books, July 10, 2014 issue) http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/07/10/cias-zhivago/
Joe McGasco, "History Hasn't Killed It: The Sory Behind Doctor Zhivago (Film)" https://www.biography.com/news/doctor-zhivago-facts-50-anniversary
Paolo Mancosu's (Professor of Philosophy, University of California at Berkeley) website on Zhivago's Secret Journey https://zhivagostorm.org
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area