RUSSIAN LITERATURE - MOD.2

We intend to investigate aspects of the work of Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, and to provide tools for interpreting his works. The course, making use of the broad historical-cultural framework provided in Module 1, will treat problems of interpreting Pasternak’s texts, above all his poetry, through metrical, linguistic and stylistic analysis. Thus we will trace the evolution of Pasternak’s poetic system through his various verse collections, in constant relation to the historical and literary contexts in which he worked.
In terms of knowledge and understanding, the teaching, which falls between the basic courses of the master's degree course in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literatures, is in line with the educational objectives of the degree program; it aims at instilling:
- a knowledge and understanding of the specific features of the work of one of the major figures of 20th-century Russian literature;
- a specialized knowledge and understanding – in original language – of examples of Pasternak’s poems, chosen to convey a diachronic and evolutionary vision of his poetic system: a more in-depth study of the theoretical aspects concerning metrics, methods of textual analysis, linguistic aspects (within the context of contemporary Soviet production);
- a further knowledge and understanding of the terminology of textual analysis and literary criticism.

Students are expected to acquire:
- in addition to an ability to translate literary texts and essays on literary and cultural subjects from Russian into Italian, an ability to reflect on the act of translation and to express an evaluation on existing translations;
- an ability to comprehend the contents of critical essays in Russian, orienting themselves among the different interpretive tendencies;
- an ability to produce written and oral critical comments in Italian based on a thorough understanding of (even complex) original language Russian literary texts; to this end students will be required to choose a text (not among those examined in class) by the author from the reading list of the course and to articulate a critical reading of it at the exam;
- an ability to identify – by utililizing the concepts learned – their final thesis topic on a literary-cultural context, to be written partly in Russian, formulating a personal argument and supporting it from their own reflections;
- an ability to move with ease in high-level professional situations in intercultural areas.
The acquired skills will be developed in greater depth in interactions with Italian and foreign speakers, invited to hold lessons within the course or laterally to it.

Having achieved the educational aims of Module 1 of the same academic year, even without having yet taken the exam.

The content consists of translation and commentary on linguistic, stylistic, metrical, thematic and intertextual elements of a series of poems by Pasternak from his different verse collections. The diachronic examination of the fundamental features of his poetics aims at reconstructing, through his texts, his artistic evolution as a poet. The reception of Pasternak in Italy and a comparative analysis of the existing Italian translations of some of his compositions will also be examined during the course.

Testi primari

Scelta di testi da: B. Pasternak, Polnoe sobranie sočinenij s priloženijami v odinnadcati tomach [glavnyj redaktor, D. V. Tevekeljan]. Moskva: Slovo, 2003-2005.


Testi secondari

Uno dei seguenti testi:
- D.L. Plank, Pasternak’s lyric. A Study of Sound and Imagery. Mouton & Co.: The Hague-Paris 1966
- N. A. Fateeva, Poet i proza : kniga o Pasternake. Moskva: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2003
- tre saggi a scelta da: Eternity’s hostage : selected papers from the Stanford International Conference on Boris Pasternak, May, 2004 : in honor of Evgeny Pasternak and Elena Pasternak.
Part 1 and Part 2. Stanford : Stanford University, Department of Slavic languages and literatures, 2006.

Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
The learning assessment will take place through an oral exam in which the student must demonstrate that he/she has acquired the contents of the analysis of the texts examined in class and of the assigned bibliography (50%). The student will then complete his/her preparation independently with a choice of at least 20 poetry texts to be translated and analyzed on their own, one of which will be the subject of an oral presentation, to be held during the exam, organized according to the analytical method taught in class (25%). Lastly, the student must be able to describe with appropriate terminology the different phases of Pasternak's artistic evolution, linking biographical and poetic facts to his historical and historical-cultural context (25%).

Seminar lessons in which the instructor will present original language texts (which students will have to prepare from time to time in advance of the lesson) initially providing contextual elements and stylistic-linguistic tools for interpretation. In the final part of the course the students will participate directly in discussions about the texts.
In-depth materials or suggestions for further reading may be communicated through the Moodle Platform.

Italian

The cycle of lectures of mod. 1 and mod. 2 are held one after the other, respectively on the first and second half of the semester.

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