When the Empire Strikes Back: (Post) Colonial Theory and Fiction
REES 265
Spring 2025
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
RULE 265, RUSS 265, WLIT 268, COL 285 |
Throughout its history, the rulers of Russia--the tsarist Russian Empire, the USSR, and now the Russian Federation--have been focused on the expansion of Russia's territory via the conquest, subjugation, and/or assimilation of neighboring peoples. Russia's colonial condition, expressed in fiction, film, and other media, will be the focus of this course. We will discuss global postcolonial theory (Chinua Achebe, Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak) and critical works with a focus on Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (Ewa Thompson, Vitaly Chernetsky, Alexander Etkind), in order to see how Russia's colonial being can be compared to other empires. We will discuss such topics as The Empire and the Other, Culture and Imperialism, Language Politics, and strategies of resistance to imperial hegemony. Via specific cases in literature and art, we will see how Russian culture processes the colonization of Alaska, Siberia, and the Caucasus. We will pay special attention to the discourses of Chukchi, Tartar, Chechen, Khanty, and Ukrainian authors who write back to the Empire. The readings will include the writings of J.M. Coetzee, Joseph Conrad, Mikhail Lermontov, Yuri Rytkheu, Guzel Yakhina, Yeremey Aipin, and Viktor Astafiev.
The course is taught in English. No knowledge of Russian is required. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA REES |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (COL)(CSCT)(REES-MN)(REES-Lang/Lit/C) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time. Trans. Paul Foote.
Jules Verne, Michael Strogoff. The Courier of the Czar.
Volodymyr Rafeyenko, The Length of Days. An Urban Legend. Trans. Sibelan Forrester
Yakhina, Guzel. Zuleikha. Trans. Lisa Hayden.
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Examinations and Assignments:
1 presentation, 1 group project, 2 five-page papers |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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| Instructor(s): Karageorgos,Natasha Times: ..T.R.. 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: FISK314; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 16 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 6 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 4 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 1 | Unranked: 0 |
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