SYLLABUS
Click on links to get to information and questions about the authors and works

illustration from Zamiatin's WE
WEEK 1
January 17: Background, reading list, syllabus; discuss final reading
January 19: Konstantin Tsiolkovskii, "On the Moon: A Fantastic Tale," in Red Star Tales, pp. 38-77; Nikolai Fyodorov, "Karazin: Meteorologist or Meteorurge?", Red Star Tales, pp. 31-37; Nikolai Fyodorov, "The Question of Brotherhood..." - on Moodle.
Information on Tsiolkovsky and Fyodorov and questions for reading
WEEK 2
January 24: Nikolai Chernyshevsky, "Vera Pavlovna's Dream," Worlds Apart, pp. 248-58, and on Moodle; Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Grand Inquisitor," on Moodle, and "Dream of a Ridiculous Man," Worlds Apart, pp. 276-90, on Moodle
Information and Questions on Dostoevsky and Chernyshevsky
January 26: Aleksandr Bogdanov, Red Star, introduction, pp. 1-16, and 17-140
Information and Questions on Bogdanov
Possible topics for the first paper, due February 9
WEEK 3
January 31: Valery Briusov, "The Republic of the Southern Cross," WA, 303-17; Bryusov, "Rebellion of the Machines," Red Star Tales, pp. 78-85.
Information and Questions on Briusov
February 2: Karel Čapek, R.U.R. and Andrei Platonov, "The Lunar Bomb," Red Star Tales, pp. 158-80.
Information and Questions on Čapek and R.U.R.
Information and Questions on Platonov
WEEK 4
February 7: Evgenii Zamiatin, We
Information and Questions on We
February 9: Alexei N. Tolstoy, slim excerpt from "Aèlita, Queen of Mars," Worlds Apart, pp. 555-83, and on Moodle; clip from Yakov Protazanov's Aèlita; Aleksndr Belyaev, "Professor Dowell's Head," in Red Star Tales, pp. 113-157 .
Information and Questions on Aèlita
Information and Questions on Belyaev and Professor Dowell
WEEK 5
February 14: Vladimir Nabokov, Invitation to a Beheading, Foreword and Chapters 1-20
Information and Questions on Nabokov and Invitation to a Beheading
February 16: Mikhail Bulgakov, "The Fatal Eggs," Worlds Apart, pp. 471-529 (also on Moodle)
Information and Questions on Bulgakov's "Fatal Eggs"
WEEK 6
February 21: Karel Čapek, War with the Newts, Book One, pp. 9-114
Information and Questions on Čapek's War with the Newts
FIRST PAPER DUE Feb 24!
February 23: War with the Newts, Books Two and Three, pp. 117-241
Big Issues in the course to date
WEEK 7
February 28: Josef Nesvadba, "Expedition in the Opposite Direction," pp. 50-84, and "Inventor of His Own Undoing," pp. 142-164; Zamiatin, "On Literature, Revolution, Entropy, and Other Matters" (on Moodle)
Information and Questions on Nesvadba
March 2: Alerksandr Kazantsev, “Explosion,” in Red Star Tales, pp. 224-49; Ivan Efremov, excerpt from The Andromeda Nebula, in Worlds Apart, pp. 616-46 (on Moodle)
Information and Questions on Kazantsev and Efremov
Midterm exam (due to me by March 16!) is on the course Moodle page.
SPRING BREAK
WEEK 8
March 14: Stanisław Lem, Solaris
Information and Questions on Lem and Solaris
March 16: Soviet SF stories: Vladlen Bakhnov, "The Fifth on the Left," pp. 142-55; Sever Gansovsky, "Vincent Van Gogh," pp. 52-118; Ilya Varshavsky, "No Alarming Symptoms," pp. 1-14 (on Moodle)
Information and Questions on these writers and stories
Midterm exam is due today!
WEEK 9
March 21: Arkadii and Boris Strugatsky, Escape Attempt pp. 3-100 (on Moodle)
Information and questions about the Strugatskys and Escape Attempt
Midterm exam due!
March 23: 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 (on Moodle)
Information and Questions on Bulychëv
WEEK 10
March 28: Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Hard to Be a God
Information and questions about Hard to Be a God
March 30: Arkadii and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic
Information and questions about Roadside Picnic
WEEK 11
April 4: Stanisław Lem, The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age
Information and questions about Cyberiad
April 6: More Soviet SF stories: Olga Larionova, "Temira," pp. 1-30; Larionova, "The Useless Planet," pp. 80-121; Valentina Zhuravleva, "The Brat," pp. 31-40 (also available as "Hussy" in another translation, if you're interested in comparing them, pp. 143-151); Gennady Gor, "The Garden," pp. 107-25 (all on Moodle)
Information and questions about Larionova, Zhuravleva, and Gor
WEEK 12
April 11: Lem, Futurological Congress, pp. 1-149
Information and questions on Lem's Futurological Congress
LONG PAPER OR WEB PRESENTATION DUE!
April 13: Vladimir Savchenko, "Mixed Up," Red Star Tales, p. 352-98; Olga Larionova, "A Double Last Name," on Moodle
Information and questions on Savchenko and "Mixed Up"
WEEK 13
April 18: Viktor Pelevin, Omon Ra
Information about Pelevin and questions on Omon Ra
April 20: Daliya Truskinovskaya, excerpt from Doorinda, Red Star Tales, pp. 424-440; Sergei Lukyanenko, “My Dad’s an Antibiotic,” Red Star Tales, pp. 441-63
Information and Questions on Truskinovskaya and Lukyanenko
WEEK 14
April 25: Reading TBA: You'll choose
April 27: Final discussion.
SPECIAL PROJECT DUE!
Let me know if you have questions about the Special Project.
Final Examination will be a three-hour self-scheduled written exam, posted on Moodle, due to me no later than May 11. (Or May 6, if you are a graduating senior at Bryn Mawr or Haverford.)