RUSSIAN 312 - Nabokov:Puzzle,Pattern,Game

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

As poet, master fiction writer, translator, chess enthusiast, and lepidopterist, Vladimir Nabokov made it his life's work to recognize hidden patterns and sleights of hand, and to play along in his own art. In this course, which is structured as a seminar, students approach a selection of Nabokov's works as "players" and treasure seekerstraining their senses to discern what has been so carefully and lovingly hidden. Students also consider major interpretive strategies: life as design, (auto)biography, memory and its role in art, varieties of translation, aesthetic and ethical implications of patterns and their manipulation, and the usefulness of categories such as modern and postmodern. Significant attention is given to the Russian cultural and literary context that underlies Nabokov's sense of design in both his life and art. Students read-in addition to poems, short stories, and critical articles? ?he Defense, Invitation to a Beheading, The Gift, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Pnin, and Pale Fire, as well as Nabokov's autobiography, Speak, Memory. The course is conducted in English.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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