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A Russian Carnival of the Animals

Module description

Alongside the vivid human characters in Russian literature there is an array of striking animal characters, many of whom can speak for themselves. The animals you will encounter reveal some of the ways Russian culture has understood the relationship between human and non-human animals. In reading texts ranging from folktales, writing for children, and work by major writers such as Lev Tolstoi and Mikhail Bulgakov, you will explore what these texts tell us about animals as independent agents and as mirrors in which humanity finds itself reflected.

This module has no pre- or co-requisites and is suitable for specialist and non-specialist students, as well as those on interdisciplinary pathways. Primary texts will be available in both Russian and English.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The central aims of the module are to present you with a variety of texts in which animals play an important role, and to introduce you to ideas about the way animals function within the context of Russian culture. You will be supported in developing your close-reading and analytical skills in exploring how animals have been understood as allegorical stand-ins for humans or as creatures who are entirely ‘other’. You will compare the texts to ascertain how representations of animals and their relationship with the human world may have changed over time, and to find out whether animals are represented differently in different kinds of text (folklore, writing for children, ‘high’ literature). Carefully selected secondary literature will introduce you to critical thinking about animals and culture, and you will gain experience in applying this reading to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the texts.

The module will foster transferable skills such as group work (preparing for and delivering group seminar presentations) as well as producing written work which will help you practise tasks such as analysing text and evaluating critical secondary literature relating to texts you have studied.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Identify the variety of ways in which animals are represented in Russian writing and compare the representation of animals in different types of text, e.g. folktales, children’s literature, ‘high’ literature.
• 2. Relate the way the texts portray animals (and, where relevant, by implication, humans) to the historical or social context in which they were written.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Critically evaluate ideas and interpretations put forward in relevant secondary literature.
• 4. Develop, present, and defend a detailed argument, in both written and oral forms, with some guidance from the course lecturer

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Undertake independent learning activities with a measure of autonomy, asking for guidance from the course lecturer where necessary.
• 6. Produce written work to a deadline and to the required length.

Syllabus plan

The following topics are likely to be covered, though there may be some variation from year to year:

• Introduction: the animal in Russian culture both as ‘other’ and as a reflection of the human
• Animals in folk and fairy tales: animal helpers and villains; transformation of human into animal and vice versa
• Tolstoi’s ‘Strider: a Story of a Horse’: anthropocentric and animal centric interpretations
• Animals in Chukovskii’s poetry for children: allegory or entertainment
• Bulgakov and the Bolshevik vivisectionists: ‘Heart of a Dog’
• Early twentieth-century poets and the animal kingdom: horses, dogs, and a cockroach shed light on the human condition
• Zoshchenko’s subversive monkey: the children’s story that infuriated Stalin and led to the author’s public vilification

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

(available in Russian and in English translation)

• [anon.], selection of traditional folktales
• Mikhail Bulgakov, ‘Sobach′e serdtse’ / ‘Heart of a Dog’
• Kornei Chukovskii, ’Krokodil’ / ‘The Crocodile’; ‘Tarakanishche’ / ‘The Great Big Cockroach’; ‘Telefon’ / ‘The Telephone’
• A selection of 20^th-century poems including:
• Vladimir Maiakovskii, ‘Vot kak ia sdelalsia sobakoi’ / ‘That’s how I became a dog’; ‘Khoroshee otnoshenie k loshadiam’ / ‘A good attitude towards horses’; Nikolai Oleinikov, ‘Tarakan’ / ‘The Cockroach’
• Lev Tolstoi, ‘Kholstomer’ / ‘Strider’
• Mikhail Zoshchenko, ‘Prikliucheniia obez′iany’ / ‘Adventures of a Monkey’

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=8418 

Key words search

Russian literature, animals