RSn063 Russian Novel

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc.
Department of Slavonic Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: doc. PhDr. Jiří Gazda, CSc.
Supplier department: Department of Slavonic Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 C31, except Mon 18. 11. to Sun 24. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main aim of the course is to demonstrate the rise, genesis and the theory of the novel in general and those of the Russian novel in particular, and the significance of the phenomenon of the Russian novel in world literature, but also the Russian novel as an important source of information about Russia and its development. The course covers general features of the novel, its world genesis, typology and routs of the Russian novel as “unwanted child” in the situation of incomplete Russian secularization. The lecture, where it’s expected that the students will independently read the literature and prepare and present papers and text analyses on seminars, covers the canon of the Russian novel, its types and the main representatives in comparative interliterary concept from the beginning of the 17th and 18th century up to its postmodern and postpostmodern phase in Soviet, samizdat and exile environment putting emphasis on those works that in the development of the world literature had the most powerful poetological function to the literature influenced to biggest extent in general. The course relates to other courses of the programme, particularly to the historical views of the 18th-20th century Russian literature, but also to the theory of literature and to literary theory and methodology and, in general, to the image of the Russian world itself.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will have the idea of the social function and developmental peripeteias of the novel in general and Russian in particular, will know how to analyze its structure and social background as an informational source about Russian world; will be able to compare the Russian novels to the novel development in the world and to find world inspiration following from the Russian novel, particularly from its classical and modern periods connected with the world writers of novels like Lev Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Maksim Gorky, Ivan Bunin, Andrey Bely and others.
He/she will be able to analyze the novels from different points of view: poetological, thematological, narratological, the theory of plot and others, and to put them in connection with the world and the Czech development, to present it in individual research papers and discuss about it informatively.
Syllabus
  • The rise, genesis and theory of the novel. The two contradictory conceptions of the rise of the novel. The novel continuity and discontinuity. The evolution of the theory of the novel. The Czech theory of the novel. The beginnings of the Russian novel and various conceptions of its development. Allochthonous and autochthonous roots of the Russian novel. The specific features of the Russian novel as a manifestation of the pre-post effect of Russian literature. Autochthonous roots of the Russian novel in the Middle Ages. The nodal points in the development of the Russian novel: The Life of Avvakum and Karamzinʼs Letters of a Rusian Traveller. The Russian imitations of the 18th- and 19th-century European novel: Emin—father and son, Chulkov, Narezhny. The development of Russian medium-sized and small prose in the 18-th and in the first half of the 19th-century. Verse and the novel: the form of Pushkinʼs Eugene Onegin. Transformations of the confessional, picaresque and historical model. Various forms of the rise of the Russian novel: Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Goncharov, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. The synthetizing role of the “natural school”. The novel types of the “Golden Age”: L. N. Tolstoy—F. M. Dostoevsky—N. S. Leskov. The analysis of the three significant 19th-century Russian novelists: I. S. Turgenev, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky. The novel of the revolutionary democrats and the narodniks. The evolution and disintegration of the Russian novel in the second half of the 19th century: A. P. Chekhov. Russian modernist novel: Merezhkovsky, Bely, Artsybashev, Bryusov. The development of the Russian novel in the 1920s and the 1930s prose: the return of the action, experimenting with the plot, 1930sʼ monumentalization and historization. The Russian novel in the 20th century: Gorky—Zamyatin—Bunin—Sholokhov—Bulgakov—Platonov—Pasternak. The development of the Russian novel in the second half of the 20th century: the Russian novel in the Soviet Union and in emigration, confessional novel revival, escape into tradition (village prose) and into the past (historiosophical novel). The “retutend novel” of the glasnost, perestroika and katastroika periods. The Russian novel and postmodernism. Traditional and experimental character of the Russian novel in comparative aspect.
Literature
    required literature
  • CLARK, Katerina. Sovětský román: dějiny jako rituál. Translated by Vít Schmarc. Vydání první. Praha: Academia, 2015, 411 stran. ISBN 9788020024039. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Ruský román znovu navštívený (The Russian Novel Revisited). 1st ed. Brno: Nadace Universitas, Akademické nakladatelství CERM, Nakladatelství a vydavatelství NAUMA, 2005, 209 pp. Edice Scientia. ISBN 80-7204-423-0. info
  • HODROVÁ, Daniela. Hledání románu : kapitoly z historie a typologie žánru. Vyd. 1. V Praze: Československý spisovatel, 1989, 275 p. URL info
  • HRABÁK, Josef. Čtení o románu. 1. vyd. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1981, 327 s. URL info
  • BACHTIN, Michail Michajlovič. Román jako dialog. Vydání první. Praha: Odeon, 1980, 479 stran. URL info
  • KOŽINOV, Vadim Valerianovič. Zrození románu. 1. vyd. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1965, 324 s. info
    recommended literature
  • Der historische Roman (Orig.) : Historický román. info
  • Veselovskij, A. N.: Iz istorii romana i povesti I.-II. Sankt-Peterburg 1886-1888.
  • Gillespie, D.: The Twentieth-Century Russian Novel. An Introduction. Berg, Oxford - Washington 1996.
  • Spielhagen, F.: Beiträge zur Theorie und Technik des Romans. Leipzig 1883.
  • Jehlička, M.: Vyprávěčské umění Lva Tolstého (Raná tvorba). Praha 1968.
  • Kundera, M.: Umění románu. Praha 1960.
  • Bělič, O.: Španělský pikareskní román a realismus. Praha 1963.
  • Sipovskij, V. V.: Očerki istorii russkogo romana I-II. Sankt-Peterburg 1909-1910.
  • Lukács, G.: Die Theorie des Romans. Berlin 1920.
  • O poetice literárních druhů (M. Červenka, J. Holý, M. Jankovič, P. Janoušek, M. Kubínová, M. Mravcová). Sestavila a redigovala Marie Kubínová. Praha 1995.
  • Golovin, K.: Russkij roman i russkoje obščestvo. Sankt-Peterburg 1897.
  • Pouillon, J.: Temps et roman. Paris 1946.
  • Gifford, H.: The Novel in Russia: from Pushkin to Pasternak. London 1964.
  • Freeborn, R.: The Rise of the Russian Novel: Studies in the Russian Novel from Eugeen Onegin to War and Peace. Cambridge University Press 1973.
  • Grifcov, B. A.: Teorija romana. Moskva 1927.
  • Theile, W.: Immanente Poetik des Romans. Darmstadt 1980.
  • Simpson, M.: The Russian Gothic Novel and Its British Antecedents. Columbus 1986
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Stará literatura východních Slovanů a ruská literatura 18. století (Přehled a exkurzy z literatury 11.-17. století) (Old Literature of Eastern Slavs and 18th-Century Russian Literature (Outline and Probes from the 11-17th-Century Literature)). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2014, 196 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-7281-7. Digitální knihovna FF MU info
  • SVATOŇ, Vladimír. Proměny dávných příběhů : o poetice ruské prózy. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Filozofická fakulta, 2004, 343 s. ISBN 8073080516. info
  • SVATOŇ, Vladimír. Z druhého břehu : (studie a eseje o ruské literatuře). Vyd. 1. Praha: Torst, 2002, 603 s. ISBN 8072151797. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Genologie a proměny literatury. Vyd. 1. Brno: Filozofická fakulta Masarykovy univerzity, 1998, 154 s. ISBN 8021018720. URL info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Ruský román : nástin utváření žánru do konce 19. století. Vyd. 1. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1998, 136 s. ISBN 8021017708. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Fenomén šílenství v ruské literatuře 19. a 20. století. Vyd. 1. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1995, 151 s. ISBN 8021010835. URL info
  • DOHNAL, Josef, Ivo POSPÍŠIL and Galina Pavlovna BINOVÁ. Panoráma ruské literatury (Panorama of Russian Literature). In Panoráma ruské literatury. 1st ed. Boskovice: Albert, 1995, 415 pp. ISBN 80-85834-04-9. info
  • HODROVÁ, Daniela. Místa s tajemstvím :(kapitoly z literární topologie). Vyd. 1. Praha: Koniasch Latin Press, 1994, 211 s. ISBN 80-85917-03-3. info
  • SVATOŇ, Vladimír. Epické zdroje románu :z teorie a typologie ruské prózy. 1. vyd. Praha: Ústav pro českou a světovou literaturu AV ČR, 1993, 139 s. ISBN 80-85778-00-9. info
  • HODROVÁ, Daniela. Román zasvěcení. Jinočany: H & H, 1993, 230 s., [1. ISBN 80-85787-34-2. info
  • KAUTMAN, František. F.M. Dostojevskij : věčný problém člověka. Praha: Rozmluvy, 1992. info
  • MATHAUSEROVÁ, Světla. Cestami staletí : systémové vztahy v dějinách ruské literatury. Vyd. 1. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, 1988, 147 s. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Labyrint kroniky : pokus o teoretické vymezení žánru. V Brně: Blok, 1986. info
  • BACHTIN, Michail Michajlovič. Román jako dialog. Vydání první. Praha: Odeon, 1980, 479 stran. URL info
  • FORSTER, E. M. Aspects of the novel. Edited by Oliver Stallybrass. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976, 204 p. ISBN 0-14-018398-1. info
  • ODINOKOV, Viktor Georgijevič. Chudožestvennaja sistemnost' russkogo klassičeskogo romana : problemy i suždenija. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1976. info
  • KRAUSOVÁ, Nora. Rozprávač a románové kategórie. Bratislava: Slovenský spisovateľ, 1972. info
  • FORSTER, E. M. Aspekty románu. Translated by Eva Šimečková. Vydanie prvé. V Bratislave: Tatran, 1971, 136 stran. info
  • ROBBE-GRILLET, Alain. Za nový román. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon - nakladatelství krásné literatury a umění, 1970, 124 s. URL info
  • ROTHE, Hans. N.M. Karamzins europäische Reise : der Beginn des russischen Romans : philologische Untersuchungen. Bad Homburg: Gehlen, 1968, 475 stran. info
  • LUKÁCS, György. Metafyzika tragédie. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1967, 187 s. URL info
  • Slovenská akadémia vied (Bratislava : 1953-). Ústav svetovej lit. O svetovom románe : sborník štúdií. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, 1967. info
  • DNEPROV, Vladimir Davydovič. Čerty romana 20 veka. Moskva: Sovetskij pisatel', 1965. info
  • LUBBOCK, Percy. The craft of fiction. London: Jonathan Cape, 1965, x, 277. info
  • KOŽINOV, Vadim Valerianovič. Zrození románu. 1. vyd. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1965, 324 s. info
  • KRAUSOVÁ, Nora. Epika a román. Vyd. 1. V Bratislave: Slovenský spisovateľ, 1964. info
  • KRAUSOVÁ, Nora. Epika a román. Vyd. 1. V Bratislave: Slovenský spisovateľ, 1964. info
  • Istorija russkogo romana : v dvuch tomach. Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Akademii nauk SSSR, 1962, 625 s. info
  • MUIR, Edwin. The structure of the novel. London: Hogarth Press, 1946, 151 p. : 1. info
    not specified
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Hrabákovo Čtení o románu a souvislosti literární teorie (Hrabák's Reading about the Novel and the Contexts of Literary Theory). In Slavica Litteraria, X 6. 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2003, p. 109-120. ISBN 80-210-3086-0. info
  • HRABÁK, Josef. Čtení o románu. 1. vyd. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1981, 327 s. URL info
Teaching methods
The lecture and the seminar; the lecture is based on the comparative and genre approach to the novel in general and to the Russian novel in particular, the use of illustrative examples as well as textual and intertextual analysis. The seminar focuses on the presentation of the students' own research. It has a form of the coursework presentation, individual reading and textual analysis and discussion.
Assessment methods
The course has a form of lectures and seminars, reading text illustrations from selected novels, paper presentation
Current evaluation: individual evaluation of studentsʼ activity in seminars (text analyses), evaluation of paper presentation including the impressiveness and the rhetorical aspect, special evaluation of written outputs in the form of a seminar essay on the basis of a point table (100 points maximum, successfulness limit 50).
Current evaluation—written tests.
The exam itself contains the checking of individual reading, discussions concerning the seminar essay, analysis of a short text extract, the common oral exam on the basis of the accessible synopsis and the lecture.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information about innovation of course.
This course has been innovated under the project "Faculty of Arts as Centre of Excellence in Education: Complex Innovation of Study Programmes and Fields at FF MU with Regard to the Requirements of the Knowledge Economy“ – Reg. No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0228, which is cofinanced by the European Social Fond and the national budget of the Czech Republic.

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The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023.
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