A Russian Carnival of the Animals
Module title | A Russian Carnival of the Animals |
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Module code | MLR3123 |
Academic year | 2024/5 |
Credits | 15 |
Module staff | Professor Katharine Hodgson (Convenor) |
Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
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Duration: Weeks | 11 |
Number students taking module (anticipated) | 15 |
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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, and students of Russian should consult the Russian texts.
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. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the set texts and relate the way the texts portray animals (and, where relevant, by implication, humans) to the historical or social context in which they were written.
- 2. Engage with a range of broader literary-critical and theoretical concepts, and apply them to the texts selected for study
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Support your argument with evidence from the text(s) and with opinions from relevant secondary literature, using all resources available.
- 4. Present an argument to a professional standard in both written and oral form
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Present a cogent and sustained argument on a designated or negotiated topic to a group of listeners, and respond to questions and responses from the group.
- 6. Use bibliographical material provided, and select, plan and carry out a programme of study leading to an essay or presentation on a chosen topic, to a specified length and deadline
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)
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
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16 | 134 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
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Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 10 | 10 x 1-hour Seminars |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 5 | 5 x 1-hour Lectures |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 1 | Conclusion |
Guided Independent Study | 41 | Reading and research |
Guided Independent Study | 60 | Completion of formative and summative assessment tasks |
Guided Independent Study | 33 | Weekly seminar preparation |
Formative assessment
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Short class presentation and participation in group discussion | Presentation: 3 minutes; group discussion: 10 minutes | 1-5 | Written feedback |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
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100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Written assignment 1 | 50 | 1500 words | 1-4, 6 | Written feedback |
Written assignment 2 | 50 | 1500 words | 1-4, 6 | Written feedback |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
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Written assignment 1 (1500 words) | Written assignment 1 (1500 words) | 1-4, 6 | Referral/Deferral period |
Written assignment 2 (1500 words) | Written assignment 2 (1500 words) | 1-4, 6 | Referral/Deferral period |
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
(provided on ELE 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 20th-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’
Credit value | 15 |
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Module ECTS | 7.5 |
Module pre-requisites | None |
Module co-requisites | None |
NQF level (module) | 6 |
Available as distance learning? | Yes |
Origin date | 09/02/2024 |
Last revision date | 21/02/2024 |