The Art of the Russian Poem: 20th - 21st

The goal of this seminar is twofold: 1) To introduce students to the variety of styles, tropes and forms of Russian lyrical poetry in the 20th -21st cc.; 2) To develop and practice analytical skills. The material will include poems by both famous and lesser known poets, with an accent on the latter. For each class students will be required to familiarize themselves with readings either justifying an analytical approach or providing a sample for the analysis, and to be prepared to analyze 4-5 original texts. Each seminar will provide examples of a given subgenre of Russian lyrics, spreading from the early 20th c. to the present-day poetry (some units are spread for two or three classes, e.g. – 2 and 3, 10-12). Intentionally, texts for the analysis represent different trends and groups, spreading from Neo-Classical modernism to contemporary performative poetry. Having practiced the analysis of poetic texts during entire semester, for their final project, students will have to produce a comprehensive analysis of a lyrical poem (optionally, a poetic cycle) of their choosing placing it in the context of Russian poetic traditions.