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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : European Languages and Cultures - Russian Studies

Undergraduate Course: The Post-Soviet Word, Image and Memory (Ordinary) (ELCR09001)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 9 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course provides an approach to post-Soviet Russian culture through a consideration of different media, including literature, cinema, television and newspapers. It encourages an interdisciplinary approach to post-Soviet Russian culture and, through textual analysis, the development of reading skills in Russian. The emphasis on individual project work enables students to pursue aspects of the subject that are of particular interest to them, while gaining the perspective offered by the wider cultural context.
Course description The course will study several important films, paintings, monuments, media texts and literary texts in order to analyse the most significant cultural and political trends that emerged in the post-Soviet period. The course will examine the relevance of established postmodernist theoretical and semiotic approaches to Russian culture of the 1990s-2000s.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements BA/Ordinary students and Visiting Students. Students should attend classes alongside ELCR10014.
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesIn order to be eligible to take 4th Year Options, Visiting Students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of the appropriate language(s) and culture(s)
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  4
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Exam 70%; Essay (2500 words) 30%.
Feedback written feedback on essay outlines, essays, and exam papers.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate a broad understanding of Russian culture of the 1990s-2000s, including major cultural and socio-political trends.
  2. Appraise texts and artefacts within their historical and cultural contexts using appropriate critical theory vocabulary and terminology, and a range of critical approaches, and methods of interpretation.
  3. Engage with and interpret layers of meaning within individual texts and artefacts, and between groups of texts.
  4. Develop effective communication, presentation and interaction skills across a range of media.
  5. Demonstrate self-reliance, initiative, and the ability to work flexibly with others as part of a team.
Reading List
Pelevin "Genertaion P"
Tolstaya: a few stories and essays
Kibirov: a few poems
Petrushevskaya: a few stories
Films:
Zviagintsev: The Return
Balabanov: Brother 1, Brother 2, and War
Mikhalkov: Burnt by the Sun
Uchitel': The Stroll
Sokurov: Russian Ark
Paintings, monuments and installations by these artists: Tsereteli, Komar and Melamid, Shemiakin, Kabakov, and Butalov
Secondary sources:
*Mikhail Epstein, Alexander Genis, Slobodanka Vladiv-Glover
Russian Postmodernism :
New Perspectives on Post-Soviet Culture.
New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1999.

*Lipovetsky, Mark.Russian Postmodernist Fiction: Dialogue with Chaos. Ed. Eliot Borenstein. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1999.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research, communicative, analytical and writing skills relevant for literary studies, cultural studies, journalism, history, film studies and political science.
KeywordsPost-Soviet culture; film; memory; Russian literature.
Contacts
Course organiserDr Alexandra Smith
Tel: (0131 6)51 1381
Email: Alexandra.Smith@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary
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