A. Forman (Russian)
4 HU, WRi, CD, 4 Hours
Fall Semester FYSP 113-01 TR 1:30-2:45
We will explore the changing cultural climate in Russia over the past two decades by examining the collapse and resuscitation of post-Soviet film. How have directors engaged in the aesthetic, spiritual, and ideological debates of the Yeltsin nineties and the Putin aughts? How did they transform Soviet myths to shape new visions for a post-Soviet Russia? To what extent did they draw on classic Russian writers (Gogol, Tolstoy, Chekhov and others) to inform these efforts? The films and texts we will study focus on topics of vital interest in Russia today: violence and crime, the lives of the super rich, youth culture, Chechnya, rural Russian life, and the legacy of the Soviet past. Ultimately, we seek to understand the role film and new media have played in Russia’s search to define its post-Soviet identity. In what ways are these on-screen visions truly innovative, and in what ways do they remix or sample from earlier traditions? Do these films speak primarily to a national audience or do they possess a more universal appeal? Class meets twice a week for discussion and once a week for film screenings. P/NP grading only.