Between East and West: Culture, Empire and Nation in Russia

RUSS20841 Between East and West: Culture, Empire and Nation in Russia 20 Semester 1 Undergraduate Level 2 Marco Biasioli Unit coordinator 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Middle part of Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 This module focuses on the intersection of culture and national identity in Russian and Soviet history. You will examine Russia’s relationship with its ‘others’ – East and West – and their role in the construction of Russia’s discourses around culture and nationhood. You will also explore the role of empire in Russian and Soviet history, analysing how Russian writers, artists and intellectuals have questioned, endorsed or contested it. Through the analysis of literary and visual primary sources, the module will provide you with a better understanding of Russia’s conflicted identity and its consequences for the present day.  This module focuses on the intersection of culture and national identity in Russian and Soviet history. You will examine Russia’s relationship with its ‘others’ – East and West – and their role in the construction of Russia’s discourses around culture and nationhood. You will also explore the role of empire in Russian and Soviet history, analysing how Russian writers, artists and intellectuals have questioned, endorsed or contested it. Through the analysis of literary and visual primary sources, the module will provide you with a better understanding of Russia’s conflicted identity and its consequences for the present day.  This course aims to: <ul> <li>Investigate Russia’s recurrent issues and debates about national identity, as well as their significance in its history and culture from the 19th century to the present day; </li> <li>Analyse how Empire is represented in Russian culture; </li> <li>Study the role of the West and the East in Russian culture and nation-building; </li> <li>Examine colonialism in Imperial, Soviet and post-communist Russia. </li></ul> Students will develop: <ul> <li>Knowledge of imperialism and colonialism in Russia and the Soviet Union; </li> <li>Knowledge of the multiple and complex relationships between culture and power in Russia; </li> <li>An understanding of the historical development of key ideas and issues in Russian culture and nationhood; </li> <li>An understanding of how these ideas and issues play out in the present moment. </li></ul> Students will develop: <ul> <li>The ability to connect important concepts with each other; </li> <li>The ability to connect culture to politics and vice-versa;  </li> <li>The tools to understand and situate Russian culture and thought in historical context. </li></ul> Students will develop: <ul> <li>The ability to present written and oral work in a coherent, well-structured and well-articulated form; </li> <li>The tools to work effectively as a team; </li> <li>The ability to select and use primary and secondary sources successfully. </li></ul> Students will develop: <ul> <li>Expertise in problems affecting Eastern Europe at present; </li> <li>The ability to form and sustain robust arguments; </li> <li>An interdisciplinary approach to work and problem-solving. </li></ul> Other The course will help students develop those skills which are a requirement in today’s marketplace, including: critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, collaboration, oral and written communication. The syllabus will include the following topics:<ul><li>Russia’s Europeanisation and identity crisis;</li><li>Russia’s colonial expansion in the Caucasus and Central Asia;</li><li>Russian populism and the radical intelligentsia;</li><li>The nationality question in the Soviet Union;</li><li>Russia’s post-Soviet ressentiment towards the West and nationalism;</li><li>Russia’s renewed imperialism and its consequences for Ukraine. </li></ul> Lectures will be teacher-centred and delivered by the module leader.The seminars will focus on learner-centred activities (e.g. discussions, presentations) around specific topics and materials, stemming from the lecture. The seminar leader will set the material and moderate the discussion.Attendance to both lectures and seminars is compulsory. 0 Other 100% <figure class="table"><table style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;"><tbody><tr><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Assessment tast</td><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Summative or Formative</td><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Weighing within unit</td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Essay 1 (due week 7) </td><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Summative</td><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">40%</td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Essay (end of module, exam period)</td><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Summative</td><td style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">60%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>Resit Assessment:Essay  <figure class="table"><table class="Table" style="border-collapse:collapse;margin-left:7px;width:662px;" width="662"><tbody><tr><td style="border:1px solid black;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:321px;">Feedback method</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top:1px solid black;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:340px;">Formative or Summative</td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:1px solid black;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:321px;">Individual feedback on essay 1 </td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:340px;">Summative</td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:1px solid black;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:321px;">Individual feedback on essay 2</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:340px;">summative</td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:1px solid black;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:321px;">Additional one-to-one feedback (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment)</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:340px;">Formative</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> Y <ul> <li>Byford, Andy, Doak, Connor, Hutchings, Stephen (eds.) Transnational Russian Studies. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 2020 (Introduction and Chapters 1-5). </li> <li>Greenfeld, Liah. Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1992 (Chapter 3).  </li> <li>Hosking, Geoffrey. A History of the Soviet Union 1917-1991 (Final Edition). London: Fontana. 1992 (particularly Chapters 9 and 14). </li> <li>Hosking, Geoffrey. Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917. London: Fontana. 1998. </li> <li>Kolstø, Pål, Blakkisrud, Helge (eds.) The New Russian Nationalism: Imperialism, Ethnicity and Authoritarianism 2000–15. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2016. </li> <li>Leyton, Susan. Russian Literature and Empire: Conquest of the Caucasus from Pushkin to Tolstoy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994. </li> <li>Morozov, Viatcheslav. Russia’s Postcolonial Identity: A Subaltern Empire in a Eurocentric World. London: Palgrave. 2015. </li> <li>Tolz, Vera. Russia: Inventing the Nation. London: Arnold. 2001. </li></ul> Lectures 11 Seminars 22 0 167