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:

Readings | Acknowledgements | Assignments | Outside Readings | Other Swarthmore Professors Interested in ... | Syllabus

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:

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:

  1. Two (or so) pages of reading notes weekly, due at the end of Thursday class.
  2. Short paper (5-7 pp.) or equivalent web presentation, due February 24. See TOPICS here.
  3. Short answer exam, self-scheduled, due March 24.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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).
  7. 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.


Let me know if you find sources I should add!

Collections of Russian and/or East European Science Fiction in Tripod:

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:

Some of our authors have inspired multiple TV and film treatments:

For background on Russian and EE Literature:

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:

Other Swat professors who teach about Russia and East Europe:

Swat science profs from Russia or East Europe:



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