&#039;This module explores responses to Stalinism and its legacy in Soviet and post-Soviet texts. It focuses on the decade following Stalin’s...

Saboteurs, Stakhanovites and Spies: Writing the Stalinist 1930s (SERS0108)

'This module explores responses to Stalinism and its legacy in Soviet and post-Soviet texts. It focuses on the decade following Stalin’s consolidation of power at the end of the 1920s, when key policies of his regime, such as collectivisation of agriculture, were developed and implemented at a terrible human cost. Throughout the module students will consider the themes of childhood and family under Stalin, examine motivations behind Stalin-era large-scale construction projects, address the consequences of collectivisation and class war against wealthy peasants and focus on the cult of personality and systematic use of mass terror by the state in the 1930s. Ideological constraints which shaped artistic production in the Soviet Union of the 1930s will form a major focus of discussion. The module will also draw on cultural memory scholarship to explore the ways in which this decade has been documented, historicised, commemorated and fictionalised. To that end, it will examine a wide range of sources, such as novels, diaries, documentaries, poster art and children’s literature. Classics of Soviet literary canon will be considered alongside post-Soviet texts which confront Stalinist past, often resulting in controversy and divided reception.

BALTIC ESTONIA LATVIA LITHUANIA HISTORY SOCIETY

This module explores the history of the literatures of the three Baltic nations, Estonia, Latviam Lithuania, from pre-literate times (oral/folk poetry),...

Regional and National Identities: History of Baltic Literature (SEEE0016)

This module explores the history of the literatures of the three Baltic nations, Estonia, Latviam Lithuania, from pre-literate times (oral/folk poetry), through the foundatuions of the literary language, to the modern novel. We will examine examples of the poetry, drama and other prose of all three countries, including writing in exile. No previous language knowledge required, but would be an advantage, as literary translation is one option for written work. Individual works, and excerpts from larger works, will be read in English translation. Critical works in English are on the reading list, which is provided at the beginning of the module.