Ever wondered what kinds of monsters are lurking in Russian forests? Want to know what happens when the Devil makes a visit to Soviet Moscow? In this course we will learn all of those things and more, tracing the history of devils, witches, and other “unclean forces” in the Russian cultural imagination. We will begin by reading Russian fairy tales and folk texts, analyzing figures like Baba Yaga, Koshchei the Deathless, and Satan himself, as well as studying the many superstitions which were part of rural life for centuries. We will examine how these creatures and folk beliefs were incorporated into Russian literature, reading works by classic writers like Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, as well as how these literary demons move from rural to urban settings. In the second half of the course we will think about what happens to this tradition in the Soviet Union, focusing on Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita, which arguably the most important work of Russian literature in the twentieth century. Our readings of texts will be supplemented with clips from the numerous film and cartoon adaptations of these works, and we will conclude the course with screenings and discussions of the recent Gogol films. This series adapts Gogol’s life and early works into a fantasy thriller, and have simultaneously been incredibly popular with Russian audiences and maligned by intellectuals. We will come to our own conclusions about this debate and others, all while developing skills for critical analysis and college-level writing.

Instructor pending appointment.