RUSSL 3330 - America through Russian Eyes

(crosslisted) AMST 3331, COML 3330
(CA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits. Student option grading.

G. Shapiro.

In this course, we shall look at Russia’s perception of America as reflected in the works of its writers for over a hundred-year period. What motivated these writers? Did they go to the United States with an open mind? Did they have a hidden agenda? How fair and balanced was their portrayal of America and of Americans? We shall attempt to answer these and other questions by examining the writings of such authors as Korolenko, Bunin, Gorky, Mayakovsky, Il’f and Petrov, and Nabokov as well as Aksyonov and Dovlatov. All texts are in English.