The Deceptive City: The Creation of St Petersburg in Russian Literature (MLR3026)

Staff	Professor Katharine Hodgson - Lecturer
Credit Value	15
ECTS Value	7.5
NQF Level	6
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Duration of Module	Term 2: 11 weeks;

Module aims

The aim of this module is to:

Explore the changing significance of St Petersburg in Russian literary culture of the nineteenth century
Cover a variety of texts by major writers: Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol′, and Fedor Dostoevskii
Analyse these texts in relation to key concepts including the fantastic, the grotesque, tragedy and comedy
Explore critical concepts in selected short works of literary scholarship
Drawing on the historical context and the context of the city’s evolving image to produce your own interpretations of the literature

ILO: Module-specific skills

1. Explain how literary representations of St Petersburg have developed and changed over time, in relation to the broader literary and historical context
2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the set texts and an understanding of the ways in which these texts might be interrelated
3. Engage with a range of broader literary-critical and theoretical concepts, and apply them to the texts selected for study

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

4. Argue at length and in detail in writing about an aspect of the topic
5. Support your argument with evidence from the text and with opinions from secondary literature, using all resources available
6. Present a critical bibliography giving a balanced overview of an aspect of the subject
7. Present an argument to a professional standard in both written and oral form
8. Reference all material used accurately, consistently, and comprehensively

ILO: Personal and key skills

9. Present a cogent and sustained argument on a designated or negotiated topic to a group of listeners, and respond to questions and responses from the group
10. Use bibliographical material provided, and select, plan and carry out a programme of study leading to an essay or presentation on a chosen topic, to a specified length and deadline

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introduction: Peter the Great; celebration of the new Russian imperial capital
Pushkin's ambiguous city: tragedy in ‘Mednyi vsadnik’ (The Bronze Horseman) and the uncanny in ‘Pikovaia dama’ (The Queen of Spades)
City of illusion; comedy and the absurd in Gogol's Petersburg Stories
Petersburg in Dostoevskii's early stories; dreams and nightmares in ‘Dvoinik’ (The Double) and ‘Belye nochi’ (White Nights)

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
16	134	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	5	Lecture
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	10	Seminar
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	1	Conclusion
Guided Independent Study	124	Reading in preparation for seminar
Guided Independent Study	10	Formative task

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Presentation in class discussion	10 minutes (accompanying handout of up to 150 words)	1-10	Written
Critical bibliography	4-6 entries (up to 600 words)	1-10	Written

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	100	3000 words	1-10	Written

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay	3000 words	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Dostoevskii, Fedor, Dvoinik (The Double), Belye nochi (White Nights).
Gogol', Nikolai, Peterburgskie povesti (inc. Portret (The Portrait); Nevskii Prospekt (Nevskii Prospect); Nos (The Nose); Shinel' (The Overcoat); Zapiski sumashedshchego (Diary of a Madman)
Pushkin, Aleksandr, Mednyi vsadnik (The Bronze Horseman); Pikovaia dama (The Queen of Spades).

Secondary reading:

Antsiferov, N., Dusha Peterburga (1978).
Kaganov, G., Images of Space: St Petersburg in the Visual and Verbal Arts (1997).
Kelly, Catriona, St Petersburg: Shadows of the Past (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014).
Lilly, Ian K., (ed.), Moscow and Petersburg: the City in Russian Culture (Nottingham: Astra, 2002).
Lincoln, W. Bruce, Sunlight at Midnight: St Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia (New York: Basic Books, 2002).
Maguire, R. A, ‘The City’, in The Cambridge Companion to the Classic Russian Novel, edited by M.V. Jones and R.F. Miller (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 21-40.
Volkov, S., St Petersburg: a Cultural History (1996).

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE - https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=7449

Available as distance learning?

Origin date

24/01/2018

Last revision date

03/08/2020

Key words search

St Petersburg, Russian literature, nineteenth century