Religious motifs in Russian literature

elective courses

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with various ways religion (especially the Orthodox Christianity) influenced Russian culture and, first of all, literature. It involves discussing chosen writers, their literary texts and religious motifs present therein, as well as presenting information about Orthodox tradition and customs, indispensible to fully understand multiple literary works and their Eastern Christian context.

The course is adressed to students interested in issues related to religion and its influence on Russian culture and, especially, literature. The course includes presenting the most important categories and concepts which have shaped Russian Orthodoxy as well as discussing the forms of their presence in literary texts, mainly those of the modern age. Among the topics discussed one can find such as sacred art, Russian icon, Church ceremonials, biblical motifs, churchmen characters in literary works, “Orthodox literary critism" etc. The peculiarities of religion's presence in the literature of various periods are presented, and special attention is paid to the most famous Russian writers who devoted their works to the problems of religion.

M.M. Dunaev, Pravoslavie i russkaâ literatura, Moskva 1997.

I.A. Esaulov, Kategoria sobornosti v russkoj literature. Petrozavodsk 1995.

I.A. Esaulov, Russkaa klassika: novoe ponimanie. Sankt-Petersburg 2017.

R. Lewicki, Chrześcijaństwo. Słownik rosyjsko-polski. Warszawa 2002.

D. Lichaczow, Poetyka literatury staroruskiej, tłum. A. Prus-Bogusławski, Warszawa 1981.

M. Łukaszewicz, Duszpasterz w literaturze rosyjskiej XIX wieku - święty czy działacz społeczny?, w: Święci i świętość w języku, literaturze i kulturze, red. T. Żurawlew, H. Leleń, Kraków 2018, s. 343–355.

M. Łukaszewicz, Issledovania religioznoj problematyki v tvorčestve Nikolaâ Leskova: voprosy metodologii,w: Leskov i vokrug. Konteksty tvorčestva i sostoânie sovremennogo leskovovedeniâ, red. I. Pospišil, Brno 2018, s. 105–113.

A. Markunas, T. Uczitel, Leksykon chrześcijaństwa rosyjsko-polski i polsko-rosyjski. Poznań 1999.

Prot. A. Mien', Tainstwo, Slovo, Obraz. Leningrad 1991. (A. Mień, Sakrament, słowo, obrzęd. Tłum. Z. Podgórzec. Łuków 1992).

K. Onasch, A. Schnieper, Ikony. Fakty i legendy. Warszawa 2002.

R. Romaniuk, Dramat religijny Tołstoja, Warszawa 2004.

L. Uspienski, Teologia ikony. Poznań 1993.

KNOWLEDGE

Student:

- knows the basics of Orthodox theology and ceremonials, as well as their influence on Russian culture;

- has basic knowledge of Russian spiritual folk traditions and their reflection in oral folk poetry;

- has knowledge about different forms of religious presence in Russian literature of various periods.

SKILLS

Student:

- is able to differentiate between Christian and pagan elements in the folk tradition;

- can recognize religious and biblical motifs in literary texts;

- is able to characterize particular literary periods and demonstrate differences in their attitude towards religion.

SOCIAL COMPETENCES

Student:

- is aware of values related to cultural and religious diversity, and respects its manifestations;

- is aware of his knowledge about the influence of Orthodox Christianity on Russian literature, and is ready to learn more on his own.

Written essay on the topic chosen by student and accepted by the lecturer, as well as test containing 14 questions.

Percentage tresholds required to obtain specific grades:

3,0 – above 50%

3,5 – above 60%

4,0 – above 70%

4,5 – above 80%

5,0 – above 90%

5! – to obtain this grade a student should demonstrate outstanding extracurricular knowledge

Besides the tests it is necessary to take part in classes.

The student has the right to 2 unexcused absences, each subsequent one requires justification. The lecturer decides on the recognition of absence.

Exceeding excused and unexcused absences by 50% of classes may be grounds to fail the course. The conditions for passing the course on the resit exam are the same as on the ordinary of exam.

If it is not possible to conduct classroom classes, classes will be conducted using distance communication tools, most likely Google Classroom and others recommended by the University of Warsaw.

not applicable