Russian and East European Science Fiction
RUSS 026/LITR 026R
Spring 2009
Tuesday, Thursday 1:15-2:30
Kohlberg 330
Sibelan Forrester
Kohlberg 340
610-328-8162
Office Hours:
- Tuesday 11:00-12:00
- Wednesday 10:00-12:00
- Thursday 11:00-12:00
- ...or by appointment
In this course we’ll read a selection of the best science fiction from Russia and East Europe with attention to
its cultural, historical, and literary context and its literary and philosophical quality. Course assignments
will combine written papers (or equivalent web development), class presentations, and written examinations.
Students will have opportunities for individual or group work. Anyone who knows Czech, Polish, Russian or
Serbian is welcome to read (at least some works) in the original.
This online syllabus will be updated regularly during the semester. Please refer to it regularly for changes,
additional readings, information on writers, questions for reading, et cetera.
Last updated: Wednesday, April 1
Readings:
- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, “On the Moon: A Fantastical Story” – online at
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/sforres1/translations/Tsiolkovsky.html>
- Aleksander Bogdanov, Red Star (in Bookstore)
- Nikolai Fyodorov, “The Question of Brotherhood…” (on Blackboard)
- Alexander Levitsky, Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Russian Fantasy and Science Fiction (in Bookstore)
- Valery Bryusov, “The Southern Cross,” in Worlds Apart
- Alexander Kuprin, “The Toast” and “Liquid Sunshine,” in Worlds Apart
- Karel Čapek, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) (in Bookstore)
- Evgenii Zamyatin, We (in Bookstore)
- Nikolai Chernyshevsky, “Vera Pavlovna’s Dream,” from What is to be Done?, in Worlds Apart
- Fëdor Dostoevsky, “Dream of a Ridiculous Man,” in Worlds Apart
- Alexei N. Tolstoy, from “Aèlita, Queen of Mars,” in Worlds Apart
- Mikhail Bulgakov, The Fatal Eggs, in Worlds Apart
- Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog (in Bookstore)
- Karel Čapek, The War with the Newts (in Bookstore)
- Andrei Platonov, from "The Sun, the Moon, and the Ether Channel," in Worlds Apart
- Josef Nesvadba, stories (on Blackboard)
- Ivan Efremov, from The Andromeda Nebula, in Worlds Apart
- Stanisław Lem, Solaris (in Bookstore)
- Kirill Bulychov, stories (on Blackboard)
- Various Soviet SF writers, stories (on Blackboard)
- Arkadii and Boris Strugatsky, stories (on Blackboard)
- Various authors, science fiction criticism (on Blackboard)
- Stanisław Lem, The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age (in Bookstore)
- Stanisław Lem, Futurological Congress (in Bookstore)
- Zoran Živković, from The Fourth Circle (on Blackboard)
- …and a final mystery reading for the last week of the semester
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Lenka Pánková for suggesting War with the Newts, and to Kevin Reese for
an interesting and informative conversation on Soviet SF at AATSEEL in San Francisco.
Assignments:
- Two (or so) pages of reading notes weekly, due at the end of Thursday class.
- Short paper (5-7 pp.) or equivalent web presentation, due February 24. See TOPICS here.
- Short answer exam, self-scheduled, due March 24.
- Longer paper (10-12 pp.) or equivalent web presentation, due April 21. Topic: compare/contrast one
work we’re reading to one we aren’t; OR to a similar work from the Western tradition; OR to a screen
adaptation.
- One in-class presentation on a work we haven’t read (it can be by an author we are reading, e.g.
Bogdanov’s “Engineer Menni”), OR on a work from a non-Russian/EE author that makes a particularly
interesting and relevant comparison to something we have read or will read, OR on some valuable
internet resource on Russian/EE SF – to be scheduled during the semester.
- Final examination (short answer and essay), a 3-hour self-scheduled exam, due to me by May 16 (OR
by the end of Bi-Co finals, if you are not a Swarthmore student).
- Extra credit: collect and prepare info on a writer of SF from Russia, East Europe or Central Asia (who’s
available in English translation) for use in future editions of this course. To be arranged after talking
with the instructor.
Percentages:
| Reading notes: |
10% |
| Short paper: |
10% |
| Short-answer exam: |
10% |
| Longer paper: |
20% |
| In-class presentation: |
10% |
| Final examination: |
20% |
| Attendance and participation: |
20% |
| (Extra credit: |
+5% |
Outside Reading:
Some criticism and pre-texts will be on Blackboard. Not all of these additional sources are in Tripod, but
they look potentially helpful for this course. Check the Reference section (under PG especially) for
info on authors you haven’t heard of or don’t know enough about.
- Thomas M. Disch, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World (1998) —
lots of information about movies and television as well as books.
- John Griffiths, Three Tomorrows: American, British and Soviet Science Fiction (1980) — helpful
plot summaries, interesting juxtapositions of authors, some opinionated commentary. Most of the book
was written in the late 1960s.
- Yvonne Howell, Apocalyptic Realism: The Science Fiction of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (1994) —
places the two authors in a broader Russian literary and cultural context.
- Frederic Jameson, Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions
(2005/2007) — Jameson is a hotshot literary theorist. The book touches lightly on some EE stuff – mentions
Lem, Čapek, Zamyatin, and the book is dedicated to Darko, among others.
- Stanisław Lem, Microworlds (1984) — essays and criticism by the great, cranky Polish author.
- Carl D. Malmgren, Worlds Apart: Narratology of Science Fiction (1991) — This (barely) post-Soviet
study includes consideration of some works by Zamyatin and Lem, and he mentioned Shklovsky in his
bibliography.
- Rosalind J. Marsh, Soviet Fiction Since Stalin: Science, Politics and Literature (1986) — about
science and fiction as well as science fiction.
- Patrick Parrinder, ed., Learning from Other Worlds: Estrangement, Cognition, and the Politics of
Science Fiction and Utopia (2001) — a collection of interesting articles and other materials.
- Steven M. Sanders, The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film (2008) — it’s only about Western
films, but looks like a bunch of interesting chapters.
- David Seed, American Science Fiction and the Cold War: Literature and Film (1999) — interesting
analysis and list of works, perhaps useful for formulating your second (longer) paper topic. (And he
clarifies why Philip K. Dick was paranoid about Lem.)
- Darko Suvin, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979) — Suvin is East European himself (from
Croatia), and good on any aspect of science fiction. The book is about SF in general, but has chapters
on Russian SF and Čapek in particular.
- J. P. Telotte, A Distant Technology: Science Fiction Film and the Machine Age (1999) — has
chapters on Soviet science fiction film, French, German, American, and British.
Let me know if you find sources I should add!
Collections of Russian and/or East European Science Fiction in Tripod:
- Leland Fetzer, ed. and trans., Pre-Revolutionary Russian Science Fiction: An Anthology (Seven Utopias
and a Dream) (1982) — some of the same things we’ll read in Worlds Apart.
- Mirra Ginsburg, trans. and ed., The Ultimate Threshold: A Collection of the Finest in Soviet Science
Fiction (1970)
- Russian Science Fiction 1969, comp. and ed. Robert Magidoff (1969)
Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of information on EE and Russian science fiction online – if you start
your research on the web no one will make scornful noises. On the other hand, don’t ignore the books:
a lot online is in Polish or Russian, which may or may not help you.
Movies to consider as you consider your papers and presentations:
- Yakov Protazanov, Aèlita, Queen of Mars (1924)
- Andrei Tarkovsky, Solaris (1972; from Lem’s book)
- More recent version of Solaris (2002)
- Andrei Tarkovsky, Stalker (1980, from the Strugatskys’ book)
- Vzlyot (“The Take-Off”), 1979, with Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko playing Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
(see http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0173432/)
Some of our authors have inspired multiple TV and film treatments:
For background on Russian and EE Literature:
- Neil Cornwell, ed., Reference Guide to Russian Literature (PG2940 .R44 1998, in McCabe Reference)
- Victor Terras, ed., Handbook of Russian Literature (PG2940 .H29 1985 in McCabe Reference)
- Harold B. Segel, ed., The Columbia Guide to the literatures of Eastern Europe since 1945 (PN849.E9 S44
2003 in McCabe Reference)
- Robert B. Pynsent, ed., Reader's Encyclopedia of Eastern European Literature ( PN849.E9 R38 1993 in McCabe
Reference)
I’ve included the call numbers in part because there are other useful reference sources beside these on the shelves,
and PG is the Library of Congress code for Slavic literatures.
Other Swat professors interested in SF:
- Timothy Burke (History), among other things, co-wrote the book Saturday Morning Fever: Growing Up With Cartoon
Culture and has taught a course on History of the Future with lots of great SF readings.
- Gregory Frost (English Literature) writes science fiction and teaches creative writing (prose)
.
- William Gardner (Japanese Language and Literature) works on modernism, cinema and anime. He translates
from Japanese into English, including some science fiction (Tsutsui Yasutaka).
- Bob Rehak (Film and Media Studies) is a specialist in animated cinema, including science fiction.
- Sunka Simon (German Studies; Film and Media Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies) works on popular
culture and has taught a class on Cyborgs.
- Craig Williamson (English Literature) has taught science fiction and a course on Beowulf and Tolkein.
Other Swat professors who teach about Russia and East Europe:
- David Harrison in Linguistics
- Pieter Judson in History
- Allen Kuharski in Theater (especially Polish)
- Barbara Milewski in Music
- Matt Murphy in Political Science
- Jill Neuendorf in Russian
- Michael Pesenson in Russian
- Marina Rojavin in Russian
- Robert Weinberg in History
Swat science profs from Russia or East Europe:
- Tatiana Bibikova in Biology
- Liliya Yatsunyk in Chemistry
Syllabus:
WEEK 1
January 20: Background, reading list, syllabus; final reading
January 22: Konstantin Tsiolkovskii, “On the Moon: A Fantastic Tale,” plus Alexander
Levitsky, “Worlds of Russian Fantasy,” in Worlds Apart, pp. 9-36
Information on Tsiolkovsky and
questions for reading
WEEK 2
January 27: Aleksandr Bogdanov, Red Star introduction, pp. 1-16, and 17-59; Nikolai Fyodorov,
“The Question of Brotherhood…” (on Blackboard,
pp. 11-54)
January 29: Bogdanov, Red Star, pp. 59-140
Information and Questions
on Bogdanov and Fyodorov
WEEK 3
February 3: Alexander Levitsky, “Modern Russian Fantasy, Utopia, and Science Fiction” and "Russia's
Silver Age and the Fantastic of the 20s and 30s” in Worlds Apart, pp. 291-297; Valery Briusov,
“The Republic of the Southern Cross,” WA, 303-17; “Russia’s Modernist and Post-Symbolist Prose,”
WA, 345-47; Alexander Kuprin, “The Toast” and “Liquid Sunshine,” WA, 348-92.
Information and Questions
on Briusov and Kuprin
February 5: Karel Čapek, R.U.R.
Information and Questions on
Čapek and R.U.R.
WEEK 4
February 10: Evgenii Zamiatin, We, Introduction, pp. v-xxv; Records 1-18, pp. 3-101;
Nikolai Chernyshevsky, “Vera Pavlovna’s Dream,” Worlds Apart, pp. 248-58
February 12: Zamiatin, We, Records 19-40, pp. 102-218; Fedor Dostoevsky, “Dream of a
Ridiculous Man,” Worlds Apart, pp. 276-90
Information and Questions on We
Possible topics for the first
paper, due February 24
WEEK 5
February 17: Alexei N. Tolstoy, from “Aèlita, Queen of Mars,” Worlds Apart, pp. 555-83;
clip from Yakov Protazanov’s Aèlita
Information and Questions
on Aèlita
February 19: Mikhail Bulgakov, “The Fatal Eggs,” Worlds Apart, pp. 471-529
Information and Questions
on Bulgakov's "Fatal Eggs"
WEEK 6
February 24: Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog
Information and Questions
on Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog
FIRST PAPER DUE!
February 26: Karel Čapek, War with the Newts, Book One, pp. 9-114
Information and Questions
on Čapek's War with the Newts
Big Issues in the course to
date
WEEK 7
March 3: Karel Čapek, War with the Newts, Books Two and Three, pp. 117-241
March 5: Andrei Platonov, from "The Sun, the Moon, and the Ether Channel," in Worlds Apart,
pp. 584-615
Information and Questions on
Platonov and The Sun, the Moon, and the Ether Channel
SPRING BREAK
WEEK 8
March 17: Josef Nesvadba, “Expedition in the Opposite Direction,” pp. 50-84, and “Inventor
of His Own Undoing,” pp. 142-164 (on Blackboard)
Information and Questions
on Nesvadba
March 19: Ivan Efremov, from The Andromeda Nebula, in Worlds Apart, pp. 616-46;
Sofya Khagi, “On Contemporary Russian Fantasy and Science Fiction,” WA, pp. 647-50 and also scanned
for your convenience on Blackboard
Information and Questions
on Efremov
Lecture by Kevin Reese, PhD Candidate at UNC Chapel Hill: "Cold War, Cold Equations: Science and Technology in
Soviet Science Fiction After WWII
Thursday, March 19
4:30 p.m.
Kohlberg 115
WEEK 9
March 24: Stanisław Lem, Solaris, pp. 1-105
Information and Questions
on Lem and Solaris
March 26: Lem, Solaris, pp. 106-204
Big Issues in Solaris
WEEK 10
March 31: Kirill Bulychëv, “I Was the First to Find You,” pp. 50-63, “May I Please Speak to
Nina?” pp. 78-90, “Snowmaiden,” pp. 103-13, “The Empty House,” pp. 156-68 (on Blackboard)
Information and Questions
on Bulychëv
April 2: Several Soviet SF stories: Vladlen Bakhnov, “The Fifth on the Left,” pp. 142-55; Sever
Gansovsky, “Vincent Van Gogh,” pp. 52-118; Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, “Old-Timer,” pp. 41-47; Ilya
Varshavsky, “No Alarming Symptoms,” pp. 1-14 (on Blackboard)
Information and Questions
on these writers and stories
WEEK 11
April 7: Arkadii and Boris Strugatsky, Escape Attempt pp. 3-100 (on Blackboard)
Information and
questions about the Strugatskys and Escape Attempt
April 9: Russian and EE Science Fiction Theory and Criticism (on
Blackboard)
WEEK 12
April 14: Lem, The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age, pp. 3-171
Information and
questions about Cyberiad
April 16: Lem, Cyberiad, pp. 173-295
WEEK 13
April 21: Lem, Futurological Congress, pp. 1-149
Information and
questions on Lem's Futurological Congress
April 23: Zoran Živković, from The Fourth Circle, pp. 9-58 (on
Blackboard)
WEEK 14
April 28: Lois McMaster Bujold, Cordelia's Honor, part I: Shards of Honor, pp. 1-253
April 30: Bujold, Cordelia's Honor, part II: Barrayar, pp. 257-590 and author's
Afterword, pp. 591-596
Final Examination will be a three-hour self-scheduled written exam, due to me no later than May
16