RUS 295-01 - Special Topic: Reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace in the 21st Century

4 credits (Fall)

This course takes a literary and historical approach to the study of literature, using Lev Tolstoy’s War and Peace as its primary focus of study. What is real and what is fictional in Tolstoy’s great novel about young people in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars? Where does ‘life’ end and ‘art’ begin? In this tutorial, we’ll read War and Peace and consider some of the life—histories, maps, memoirs, diaries—that Tolstoy incorporates into the novel and we’ll analyze the art behind its construction as well. We’ll discuss issues of narration, audience, historical detail, and medium, all while discovering what makes War and Peace one of the world’s most important artistic works.

Prerequisite: Any RUS course, ENG 120, ENG 121, or a 200-level GLS course; with grade S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Herold