What does a culture look like after it undergoes a series of revolutions—sexual, political, linguistic—in short succession? To answer this question, this course surveys literature from the last days of the Russian Empire, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, and the turbulent present of the Post-Soviet World.

Together, we will consider how literary authors grapple with catastrophic upheaval, from the rapid construction of industrial socialism, to Stalin’s purges, World War II, the Gulag labor camps, and the Russian war on Ukraine in 2014 and the present. We will encounter fantastic, tragic, and absurd tales from a wild century: a battle of values in the early USSR between a rebel and a sausage maker; the joys and tribulations of post-revolutionary sexual liberation; a surreal night of drunkenness on the Moscow Metro; a lifetime in Soviet Central Asia recounted as astronauts make contact with a utopian society in a distant galaxy.

All are welcome. Taught in translation. No previous knowledge of Russian language or culture required. Humanities. Writing course.