The course is devoted to the intellectual and cultural attempts to grasp and define “Russianness” at various stages of national history. We will consider a broad range of sources – literary works, samples of Russian historiography, critical essays and documentary sources, visual art and film – concerned with the search for Russian identity through the 19th and 20th centuries.

All materials will be provided in the course Reader.

Prerequisites: Russian 1–4 and 103 A or B, or equivalent and consent of instructor. The course is intended for advanced Russian majors and heritage speakers of Russian.