The Russian Modernist Poets

Course Description

Summary

The period between the 1890s and 1920s was known as the Silver Age of Russian poetry, a time of invention and innovation against the backdrop of revolution, war, societal upheaval, and the eventual formation of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union's repressive authoritarian regime sought to stamp out artistic experimentation and personal expression that wasn't in service to the propaganda of Socialist Realism, and by the 1930s, most of these vital, original voices had been silenced. This course will provide an overview of the tumultuous political and historical context as it takes a close look at the avant-garde movements that developed during these decades of Russian poetry (Symbolism, Acmeism, Futurism, and OBERIU), focusing on the work of Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, Sergei Esenin, Daniil Kharms, Velimir Khlebnikov, Osip Mandelstam, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Alexander Vvedensky. We will read all poems in English translation (sometimes multiple translations) and consider the particular challenges of translating poetry from Russian into English. We will also consider the avant-garde Russian visual arts movements that developed at the same time. Additionally we will watch and discuss Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent documentary film Man with a Movie Camera and read Mayakovsky's play The Bedbug. Each student will be responsible for one presentation, one detailed annotation of a poem, and one longer essay.