Course Description
Close reading of Leo Tolstoy's greatest novels, "War and Peace"
and "Anna Karenina." Screening and discussion of film
adaptations. All readings and discussions in English. All films
in English or with English subtitles.
Athena Title
Tolstoy on Page and Screen
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will critically analyze Tolstoy’s major works within their historical and cultural context, understand his literary techniques, and grapple with his complex exploration of human experience, morality, and social issues.
- Students will critically engage with fictional literature, making observations and forming insightful interpretations of the text during in-class and out-of-class assignments. This includes developing strong arguments supported by textual evidence, employing clear and concise writing skills, participating actively in class discussions, sharing ideas and responding to others thoughtfully.
- Students will assess the impact of Tolstoy's ideas on the modern world and your personal experience by articulating how his prose in particular and fictional literature in general affects the formation of our ethical worldview.
Topical Outline
- 1. Introduction
2. "War and Peace," vol. 1: epic devices; the totemic cultural
symbolism of the bear; contrasting depictions of the Russian and
Prussian armies; the theme of the "little man"; symbolic
identifications of Pierre Bezukhov and General Kutuzov; the
battle of Austerllitz; free indirect discourse;
3. "War and Peace," vol. 2: the glamor of dueling and gambling
in Russian culture; the problem of serfdom; holy
foolishness; Nikolay's hospital visit as a Russianization of
Napoleon and the plague victims at Jaffa; Mikhail Speransky's
legal reforms; the ball in Russian aristocratic culture; the
wolf hunt in Russian aristocratic and peasant culture;
4. "War and Peace," vol. 3: Tolstoy's polemic with the "great
man" theory of history; serfdom and peasant rebellions; the icon
in Russian culture and military history; the Battle of Borodino
and burning of Moscow; class
presentations;
5. "War and Peace," vol. 4: Platon Karatayev, the embodiment
of peasant simplicity and truth; the death of Petya;
6. "War and Peace," First and Second Epilogues; philosophical
theories of history and the individual's role;
7. "Anna Karenina," the Biblical epigraph and part 1: devices
of characterization; synechdoche; the theme of portents; Levin
as a reconstitution of the Bezukhov prototype;
second formal essay due
8. "Anna Karenina," part 2: equine symbolism; the identification
of Frou-Frou with Anna; Tolstoy's Germany;
9. "Anna Karenina," part 3: "flow"(Csíkszentmihályi) in
Konstantine Levin's mowing;
10. "Anna Karenina," part 4; the symbolism of the "muzhik" in
Russian culture and Anna's nightmares; Vronsky's attempted
suicide and theories of masochism;
11. "Anna Karenina," part 5: Tolstoy's Italy and Anna and
Vronsky's "honeymoon" there; Nikolai Levin's death and the only
chapter subtitled in the novel;
12. "Anna Karenina," part 6: perspectivism and free indirect
discourse from the point of view of a dog; Anna and
theatricality;
13. "Anna Karenina," part 6: the birth of Levin's child; Anna's dramatic monologue and suicide by train;
Tolstoy's polemic with industrialization;
14. "Anna Karenina" part 8: the Serbian War as Vronsky's escape;
Tolstoy's pacifism; the valorization of Konstantine Levin and
his marriage
15. Student presentations and submission of final essay
