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RUSSIAN 290: RUSSIAN
FAIRY TALES
V.
Vasnetsov ("Prince Ivan on the Grey Wolf," 1889)
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Spring
2009: TTH 1:50-3:20pm in Miller 103
Instructor:
Tatiana Osipovich (tatiana@lclark.edu);
Miller 325; tel.: x7442; office hours:
MW: 10:30-11:30; TTH 3:30-4:30 and by appointment
V. Vasnetsov "Kashchei the Immortal" (1917-1928)
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This course introduces students to Russian fairy tales and their influence
on Russian literature, painting, music, opera, ballet, posters and film.
The course provides students with cultural background and basic critical
methodology in the study of fairy tales and their literary, visual and
cinematic adaptations. Students learn to analyze and interpret various
forms of Russian fairy tales in class discussions and presentations, as
well as in their writing assignments and creative projects.
Course requirements
Course requirements consist of regular attendance and active participation
in class discussions, including at least two short oral presentations
& a few unannounced reading quizzes; completion of all reading and/or
viewing assignments before class meeting; two examinations (each - one
hour long); submission of one short analytical essay (6-page minimum)
and a final project, on which a 10-minute class presentation has to be
made.
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Grading policy
1. Class participation, including two short oral presentations on assigned
topics and reading quizzes - 30%
2. Two hour-long exams - 15 % each - 30% total
3. Analytical essay (six pages minimum) - 10%
4. Final project (may be a research paper, original fairy tale, painting,
video production, etc.) - 20%
5. Class presentation based on your final project (8-12 minutes) - 10%
Acknowledgments of ideas and materials:
David J Birnbaum (University of Pittsburgh), Helena Goscilo (University
of Pittsburgh), Sibelan Forrester (Swarthmore College).
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Course materials: your
materials will consist of four different categories:
(1) Books to be purchased in the college bookstore:
1. Afanas'ev, Aleksandr. Russian Fairy Tales. New York: Pantheon. 1973.
2. Bettelheim, Bruno, The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance
of Fairy Tales, Vintage Books. 1976.
(2) Electronic readings placed on the reserve shelf: http://library.lclark.edu/reserves/index.htm.
Please always bring a printed copy of your assigned electronic material to class
discussion. Other materials will also be available through LC reserve (you can
check out Russian 290 reserved materials for 2 hours).
(3) Film viewings prior to class discussions, as scheduled in the syllabus.
Most videos or DVDs will also be placed on the library reserve shelf for your
individual viewing, if our class viewing time doesn't fit your schedule.
(4) Xeroxed materials occasionally distributed by the instructor
I highly recommend the use of the following Internet
resources:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
The online literary encyclopedia: http://www.litencyc.com/
and the dictionary at: http://www.answers.com/
Also, the University of Pittsburgh has an extensive website devoted for the
course "Russian Fairy Tales:" http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/.
Also, our library has two useful handbooks (for
library use only): 1. The
Oxford companion to fairy tales,
edited by Jack Zipes, Oxford University Press, 2000 & 2. Encyclopedia
of Russian & Slavic myth and legend, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Publisher
ABC-CLIO, 1998. Russian Tales images at the Internet.
Participation: because the course consists
of short lectures and discussions and, most importantly, because the class is
large and the time for individual speaking is limited, student contributions
to discussion will be evaluated on the basis of quality, rather than quantity,
and all students will be given opportunity to make at least two short reports
on a specific topic suggested by the instructor (5-10 minutes). Index cards
with suggested topics and the due date of your presentation will be distributed
regularly during the semester. You will be given at least a few days to prepare
for this report and you will be asked to use some material in addition to your
regular class assignment. Unannounced reading quizzes will be given at the beginning
of class throughout the semester and they will approximately take 5-10 minutes
each to complete. These quizzes may involve any combination of multiple-choice,
true-false or any other short-answer questions. Also, you are allowed to have
no more than two unexcused class absences in this course for the entire semester.
Two examinations: there will be two examinations,
each consisting of some identification or definition questions and one small
essay. You will be given two topics for your essay writing and you have to choose
the one you like most.
Analytical essay: for your six-page essay topic,
you can select any material we have discussed (or touched upon) in our course
(any folk/literary/visual/cinematic fairy tale), or you can research and analyze
any character, motif/s, structure, etc. in a single fairy tale "text"
or a group of related "texts." Your essay is worth 10% of your final
grade for this course and you are expected to present your argument in a convincing
and eloquent way. While you don't have to use secondary material (criticism)
for this assignment, you are not prohibited from doing so. More specific instructions
on writing this essay will follow soon.
Final project: you are free to choose the form
of your final project according to your academic training (major), individual
talent or personal interest. It can be a research paper or any creative undertaking
based on the course material. For example, you can create your own fairy tale
(a story in prose or verse, play, video, painting/s, book illustrations, etc…).
If you select a creative project, it has to be supplemented with some annotation
and/or explanation. You are also required to make a class presentation, reading,
video show, etc. which has to be based on your project (approximately 8-12 min.).
Plagiarism and disability: it is student's
responsibility to familiarize themselves with the Academic Integrity Policy
and Procedures at Lewis and Clark and strictly observe them. Any infractions
regarding cheating, plagiarism, etc. will be penalized according to these rules.
Read more about these rules at: http://www.lclark.edu/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?policproc.dat
If you have any disability, you may request accommodations by submitting documentation
to the Student Support Services Office in Albany Quadrangle (x7156). After you
have submitted documentation and filled out paperwork for the current semester
requesting accommodations, staff in that office will notify your your course
instructor of the accommodations for which you are eligible. Read more about
student disability policy at Lewis & Clark at: http://www.lclark.edu/dept/access/policy.html
Schedule and reading assignments (abbreviation:
AA - Alexander Afanas'ev fairy tales anthology; BB, Bruno Bettelheim book)
| January 20 (Tue) |
Introduction to the course. Explanation of the syllabus.
Background information. Definitions & key issues: fairy
tale, history,
collectors,
critical approaches, artistic forms of expression. |
| January 22 (Thu) |
"Approaches to the literary fairy tale" (elec.
reserve or here).
Focus on Russian mythology: read Linda Ivanits, "The Pagan Background"
(elec. reserve) & wiki page on Slavic
mythology: Ivan
Kupala Day, domovoi, leshii, vodianoi, rusalka. |
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January 27 (Tue)
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Monday; film viewing:
"Shadows of Forgotten
Ancestors;" Monday 4:00pm in Miller
102
Dual faith: Pagan and Christian background of Russian Fairy Tales.
Read Linda Ivanits, "Christian Personages" (electronic reserve).
Discussion of Sergei
Paradjanov's film "Shadows
of Forgotten Ancestors" (1964).
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| January 29 (Thu) |
Animal tales. Read Jack Haney (electronic reserve) &
AA, pp. 72-5, 191-4, 221-3, 249-252, 275-6, 288-9, 312-3, 450-6, 498, 612-
624 (be ready to discuss origin, structure, characters and meaning of animal
fairy tales). Additional material: symbolism of The
Bear and the Magic Horse (see episodes from: The
Hunch Back Horse). |
| February 3 (Tue) |
Structuralist approach: read Vladimir
Propp,"The 'Function' of the Fairy Tale" (electronic reserve)
& re-visit your "Introduction to Approaches" for January 22
class (electronic reserve). Read and be ready to apply different approaches
to the fairy tale in AA: pp. 553-562. Optional info: Baba
Yaga, Koschei
the Deathless, an
episode from the film (in Russian), and Mussorgsky's
"Baba Yaga" music piece (along with a cartoon). |
| February 5 (Thu) |
Psychoanalytic approach (Bruno
Bettelheim & others) and the "youngest child"(Ivan the
Fool) fairy tales. Read BB: pp. 12-19 & 102-111 & AA: pp. 40-44,
49-53, 62-65, 97-109, 115-117, 142-145, 356-360, 375-387. |
| February 10 (Tue) |
Read H.C. Andersen, "The Little Mermaid" (electronic
reserve); read about Russian Rusalka
and Pushkin's
poem. View Alexander Petrov's
animation. Recommended: "Watery Maidens: Rusalki as Sirens... by
Helena Goscilo (electronic reserve). Optional: view Russian cartoon "Rusalochka"
(1968). |
| February 12 (Thu) |
Feminist approaches. Read: Karen
Rowe, "Feminism and Fairy Tales" (electronic reserve). Watch
Russian film "Mermaid"
(2008) and/or Disney's version of 1989 (LC reserve shelf). Be ready to discuss
Rowe's article and "mermaid texts/films." Review general information
about feminism
& fairy tales. |
| February 17 (Tue) |
"Two siblings" fairy tales. Read
BB: pp. 78-83, 90-96, 159-166 & AA: pp. 20-24, 294-99, 349-51, 406-410,
463-75, 625-627. |
| February 19 (Thu) |
"Animal bride/groom tales." Read:
BB, pp. 277-291, Warner, "Go, Be a Beast"
(electronic reserve), and AA, pp. 119-23, 200-202, 580-588 & about "The
Scarlet Flower." |
| February 24 (Tue) |
The "wise maiden" tales. Read: AA,
pp. 134-140, 252-255, 327-331 , 427-437, 439-447, 545-49. |
| February 26 (Thu) |
"The bad wife" & "stepmother" tales.
Read: BB, pp. 66-73; Marina Warner, "Wicked Stepmothers" (electronic
reserve), AA, 13-15, 56-7, 161-2, 226-7, 528-32, 146-50. |
| March 3 (Tue) |
First examination. |
| March 4 (Wed. - Film);
March 5 (Thu) |
Wednesday (March 4). Film viewing "Sadko"
(1953) at 4pm in Miller 102. Sea tales and the sea world. Sadko
& Rusalka stories.
Sadko the bylina, the
opera and the
film. See fragments
from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera here
& listen to the Song of India here.
Be ready to discuss all the above "Sadko" adaptions.
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| March 10 (Tue) |
Sleeping Beauty tales. Read: BB, pp 225-36,
AA, pp. 79-86, 600-611; Tchaikovsky's
"Sleeping
Beauty" and a
clip from the ballet (you can search other clips on youtube.com). Optional:
video of Tchaikovsky's ballet (160 min.) on reserve shelf; opera
ad . A clip about the Maariinsky performance of this ballet at the end
of "The Firebird" ballet (reserve shelf). |
| March 12 (Thu) |
Gender Studies Symposium (no regular
class) |
| March 17 (Tue) |
Your
six-page analytical essay due. In-class film viewing
"Snow Maiden" (1969). |
| March 19 (Thu) |
"Snow
Maiden"(fairy tale) & a play by Alexander
Ostrovsky, an
opera by Rimsky-Korsakov
and a film
(1969) by Pavel
Kadochnikov. Optional: animation
film, song of Snow
Maiden from opera and here.
A copy of film is also available on the reserve shelf. |
| March 23 -27 |
Spring Break |
| March 31 (Tue) |
Literary fairy tales. Alexander
Pushkin:
"The Tale of Tsar Saltan" and "The Tale of the Golden
Cockerel" (electronic reserve); opera
by Rimsky-Korsakov, film
by A. Ptushko. Optional: view episodes from the film here,
hear "Flight of
the Bumblebee," and here |
| April 2 (Thu) |
Fairy tales and visual arts: Vasnetsov
(and also here),
Bilibin, (and also
here), Kandinsky
and others. Read David Jackson's article: "Out of Their Minds. The
fantasy Worlds of Victor Vasnetsov and Ivan Bilibin" (electronic reserve
& also in the book Russian Legends: Folk Tales and Fairy Tales.
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| April 7 (Tue) |
In-class viewing: Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird." Your
final project proposal is due. |
| April 9 (Thu) |
Fairy Tales and Russian music and dance: Igor
Stravinsky's "Firebird."
The story.
AA: pp. 229-234 & 612-624. More about mythology of the Firebird here. |
| April 14 (Tue) |
Fairy tales and Soviet propaganda (political posters).
Read "Socialist realism & fairy tales, including Arkady
Gaidar,"Tale of the Military Secret, Malchish-Kibalchish and His
Solemn Word" & Alexander Neverov's short story "Marya the
Bolshevik" (electronic reserve). Optional: see an episode from the
film here |
| April 16 (Thu) |
Tatyana
Tolstaya, "The Poet and the Muse" & "Date with a
Bird,"(electronic reserve). Review information about mythic birds and
reread Afanas'ev: pp. 580-588 (Finist the Bright Falkon"). |
| April 21 (Tue) |
Second examination |
| April 23 (Thu) |
Sadur, Nina: stories: "Glimpses," "Dear
Little Red-head" "Rings" (electronic reserve). Course evaluations.
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| April 28 (Tue) |
Presentation of student final projects
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| April 30 (Tue) |
Presentation of student final projects
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| May 5 (Tue) |
Presentation of student
final projects |
| May 5 (Tue)
9am!!! |
Your final project is
due! |
Some supplementary materials:
Beauty and the Beast: View an episode from
a Soviet animation version here.
"Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky: read about it
here.
Dance of Little Swans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY4Y1gTO9HE
Famous Maya Plisetskaya as a Dying Swan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWYYQN-6tJg
The Dying Swan by Lopatkina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP0zZ9LbDFs
Two siblings tales: "Sister
Alenushka and brother Ivanushka" (Afanasev; pp. 406-410).
View an episode from a Soviet animation version here,
and "The Magic Swan Geese" here.
"Rusalochka" music video in Russian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcx1w7GqNQA
Dance in the opera "Rusalka"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhuhn1wbQBE
Mermaid/Rusalka commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRX3uFh1Ywc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXOfvCfviiM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0jTsEWn71Y