Vladimir Nabokov perhaps remains best known for the scandal that surrounded the publication of his most famous work, Lolita (1955). However, Nabokov was a prolific writer in both Russian and English, with a body of work written in post-Revolutionary exile in Western Europe and the United States. This course examines a selection of Nabokov’s writings from his earliest years living in the Russian émigré communities of Berlin and Paris, to his mid-life American works (including Lolita), to the late works written in the “neutral” space of Montreux, Switzerland, where he spent the end of his life. Tracing motifs and themes that recur in his Russian and English works, and examining the structures and institutions of literary life in Russian émigré circles, this course addresses the themes of exile, memory, and nostalgia; hybrid cultural identities and multilingualism; and the aims and aesthetics of émigré and diasporic literary modernism.
All readings and discussion in English,
with the option for Russian language readings for those with Russian.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory.
Satisfies a minor requirement in Russian Studies.
Satisfies a major requirement for CIS majors in Russian Studies, Russian
Language & Literature, and Global Literary Theory.
RUS 372 will be taught entirely remotely for fall 2020 and has been redesigned with the fully online format in mind. The course will include recommended (but not required) synchronous small group discussions and asynchronous learning components, ensuring that all students are able to actively participate in the course.
- Teacher: Megan Race