Classics of Russian Literature

Overview

Course No. 2830
Professor Irwin Weil explores Russia’s literary masterpieces through:

• 36 lectures covering 12 major authors from Pushkin to Solzhenitsyn
• Analysis of 40+ works including War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, and Doctor Zhivago
• Historical context from medieval Kiev to the Soviet era
• Bilingual excerpts with Russian readings by the professor

Discover how Russian literature uniquely probes the human soul across centuries of cultural change.

Video Lessons

Foundations of Russian Literature

1. Origins in Kiev (32 min)
   Early Christian influences and Slavic Bible translations
2. The Tale of Prince Igor (31 min)
   12th-century epic poetry

Golden Age Masters

3-7. Pushkin (150 min total)
Eugene Onegin, Bronze Horseman, and tragic death

8-9. Gogol (61 min total)
The Nose, Dead Souls, and Russian grotesque

10-15. Dostoevsky (180 min total)
Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov

16-21. Tolstoy (178 min total)
War and Peace, Anna Karenina, late works

22-23. Turgenev (60 min total)
Fathers and Sons and generational conflict

24. Chekhov (30 min)
    The Seagull and short stories

Revolutionary Era

25-26. Gorky (60 min total)
Autobiographical sketches and revolution

27-28. Maiakovsky (60 min total)
Avant-garde poetry and tragic end

29-30. Sholokhov (60 min total)
And Quiet Flows the Don

31-32. Zoshchenko (60 min total)
Soviet-era satire

20th Century Voices

33-34. Pasternak (60 min total)
Doctor Zhivago’s poetic vision

35. Solzhenitsyn (30 min)
    One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
36. Conclusion (32 min)
    Russian literature’s enduring legacy