LFU:online

The course provides an overview of individual literary works, issues, tendencies and stylistic forms that characterize Russian literature of the 19th century.

In the 19th century, the first Russian poets climbed the European literary stage and became famous beyond the borders of the Tsarist Empire. Pushkin and Gogol', Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are still considered by many local and even many Russian readers to be the epitome of Russian literature. Chekhov's plays are still being performed all over Europe. The course deals with these and other authors. The lecture traces the most important literary epochs of the 19th century - especially Romanticism and Realism - and places the literary works in their historical context. Topics covered include the Russian poets' fascination with the Caucasus, representations of labor and economics, and the emancipation of women, i.e., themes that became particularly relevant in the wake of the Crimean War. Last but not least, the focus is on the development of poetic forms.

Lecture course; reading the course material is a requirement.

Written examination

H. Haumann, Geschichte Russlands. München 1996.

A. Kappeler, Russische Geschichte. München 2008.

K. Städtke, Ästhetisches Denken in Russland. Kultursituation und Literaturkritik. Berlin, Weimar 1978.

K. Städtke (Hg.), Geschichte der russischen Literatur. Stuttgart [et al.] 2002.