Skip to main content
Department of English
Search
Log in
Navigation
About
Current Office Hours
Diversity Resources
English Library
Faculty Statement Archives
Internal Dept Resources
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
University Writing Program
Video Guides & Worksheets
Visit us on Facebook
Major/Minor in English
Advising
Creative Writing Application
Honors Program
Internships
Literary Magazines
Major Requirements Guide & FAQ
Minor Requirements
Study Abroad
Why Major in English?
MFA in Creative Writing
Admissions
Events, Prizes, and Resources
MFA Program Faculty
Newly Admitted Grad Students
Resources
Ph.D. in Literature
About
Admissions
Newly Admitted Grad Students
PhD Alumni Directory
Resources
Courses & Schedules
People
News & Events
Off the Syllabus Podcast
Recent News
Contests
Contest Winners
Previous Contest Winners
Newsletters
You are here
Home
»
Courses & Schedules
English 139 - Winter, 2013
Topics in Global Literatures and Cultures
Topic: Dostoevsky: Literature at the Crux of Modernity
Class Information
Instructor:
Brown, Nathan
Time:
TR 1:40-3:00
Location:
1150 Hart
Description
At the end of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, the protagonist's nightmares of a future apocalypse are followed by an idyllic scene of nomadic tribes on the plains. In both cases we are cast outside of modernity: in the first case, to its bitter conclusion; in the second case, to an apparently simpler time prior to its contradictions and complexities.
Dostoevsky's work, however, was written at the crux of modernity: at the center of those contradictions. In this course we will read his major novels in that context, as texts expressive of the historical forces, social antagonisms, and spiritual crises agitating Russia and the world in the midst of the 19th Century.
Grading
Essay 1: 25%
Essay 2: 35%
Discussion Posts: 15%
Participation: 15%
Attendance: 10%
Texts
Notes From Underground
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Idiot
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
