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The Faithful and the Fakers: The Experience of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe

[Time/day] Justin Wilmes [Room] DSEELC, 400 Hagerty Hall [Office hours] wilmes.1@osu.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course aims to gain a more nuanced understanding of the experience of communism in Russia and its satellites in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and Czeckoslovakia. On the basis of a wide range of films, novels, stories and secondary readings, we tackle such topics as: the intellectual history of the Bolshevik Revolution; reactions to the Revolution by so-called true believers, fellow travelers, and skeptics; the rise of Socialist Realism, as well as alternative discursive strategies of Aesopian language and underground literature; the ambivalence of intellectuals in Eastern Europe to socialism after World War II; everyday life in the period of Late Socialism, including both identification with and resistence to the dominant ideology and social institutions; and Perestroika, culture shock and the post-Soviet transition. MAIN LEARNING OBJECTIVES: *To acquire skills in handling sophisticated concepts and incorporate them into discussions and writing that address philosophy and hermeneutics

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*To think comparatively across cultures *To adduce concrete and eloquent examples when making an argument *To consider how literature and cinema became sites of both ideological indoctrination and resistence, as well as the complex interaction of political context, artistic medium and genre *To confront the problems explored in the course texts: everyday life under communism; attitudes to socialism and capitalism; the function of art in society; subjectivity in authoritarian societies; notions of Self and Other under Communism (esp. vis-à-vis the West) Reading List: Akhmatova, Anna, “Requiem” (1940) Baranskaia, Natalya, A Week Like any Other (1969) Blok, Alexander, “Russia” (1908); “Night, Street, Lamp…”(1912); “The Twelve” (1918);

“The Scythians” (1921) --, “The Intelligentsia and Revolution” (1919) --, “On the Calling of the Poet” (1921) Clark, Katerina, “Socialist Realism in Soviet Literature” (2001) Chekhov, Anton, “The Cherry Orchard (1904) Chernyshevsky, Nikolai, What is to Be Done (1863) (excerpts) Closely Watched Trains (Menzel, 1966) Coates, Paul, The Red and the White: The Cinema of People’s Poland (2004) (excerpts) Davies, Norman, God’s Playground: A History of Poland (2005)(excerpts) Hlasko, Marek, Eighth Day of the Week (1957) Kollontai, Alexandra, Love of Worker Bees (1924) Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) Lebow, Katherine. Unfinished Utopia: Nowa Huta, Stalinism, and Polish Society, 1949-56 (2013)

(excerpts) Lipovetsky, Mark, Charms of the Cynical Reason: Tricksters in Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture

(2011)(excerpts) Maslowska, Dorota, Snow White and Russian Red (2005) Mayakovsky, Vladimir, “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” (1912); “About That” (1923);

“Brooklyn Bridge” (1925); “Suicide note” (1930) --, Plakaty (propaganda posters) --, The Bedbug (1929) Michnik, Adam, Letters from the Gdansk Prison (1985) (excerpts) Milosz, Czeslaw, The Captive Mind (1953) Mrozek, Slawomir, “The Elephant” (1957) and Tango (1964) Olesha, Yuri, Envy (1927) Pelevin, Viktor, Omon Ra (1992) Shore, Marci, “Stalinism Amidst Warsaw’s Ruins” in Ashes and Caviar (2006) Sutcliffe, Benjamin, The Prose of Life (2009) (excerpts) Szymborska, Wisława, Selected poems

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Yurchak, Alexei, Everything was Forever Until it was No More (2006) Zamyatin, Yevgeny, We (1921) Zoshchenko, Mikhail, “The Little Grey Goat” (Stories about Lenin); “The Banya”;

“Nervous People”; “A Dogged Sense of Smell”; “Aristokratka” Viewing List: Anna from 6 to 18 (Mikhalkov, 1994) Ashes and Diamonds (Wajda, 1958) Born in the USSR: 21 & up (Miroshnichenko, 2005) (excerpts) Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925) Brother (Balabanov, 1999) Dekalog (Kieslowski, 1989) Hands Up (Skolimowski, 1967) Heart of a Dog [adaptation of Bulgakov story] (Bortko, 1988) Knife in the Water (Polanski, 1962) Leviathan (Zviagintsev, 2014) Little Vera (Pichul, 1988) Man of Marble (Wajda, 1976) My Perestroika (Hessman, 2010) Pigs (Pasilkowski, 1992) Rejs (Piwowski, 1970) The Fate of a Man (Bondarchuk, 1950) The Fool (Bykov, 2014) The Thief (Chukhrai, 1997) Tycoon (Lungin, 2002) Vanished Empire (Shakhnazarov, 2008) White (Kieslowski, 1994) Other Suggested Readings: Davies, Norman, God’s Playground: A History of Poland (2005) Coates, Paul, The Red and the White: The Cinema of People’s Poland (2004) Lipovetsky, Mark, Charms of the Cynical Reason: Tricksters in Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture (2011) (excerpts) Shore, Marci, “Stalinism Amidst Warsaw’s Ruins” in Ashes and Caviar (2006) Course Schedule Week 1: Introduction

Practical matters. BRING A PRINTOUT OF THE SYLLABUS TO CLASS

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Born in the USSR: 21 & up (Miroshnichenko, 2005) (excerpts)

Week 2 : Precursors to the Bolshevik Revolution

Nikolai Chernyshevsky, What is to Be Done (1863) (excerpts) Anton Chekhov, “The Cherry Orchard (1904) Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925)

Week 3 : The Revolution: True Believers, Fellow Travelers and Skeptics (Blok)

Alexander Blok Poetry: -“Russia” (1908) -“Night, Street, Lamp…” (1912) -“The Twelve” (1918) -“The Scythians” (1921) Essays: -“The Intelligentsia and Revolution” (1919) -“On the Calling of the Poet” (1921)

Week 4 : The Revolution: True Believers, Fellow Travelers and Skeptics (Mayakovsky)

Vladimir Mayakovsky Poetry: -“A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” (1912) -“About That” (1923) -“Brooklyn Bridge” (1925) Plakaty (propaganda posters) -The Bedbug (1929) “Suicide note” (1930)

Week 5 : Other Voices: Aesopian Language and Open Dissent

Yury Olesha, Envy (1927) -or- Yevgeny Zamyatin, We (1921)

Week 6 : Other Voices: Aesopian Language and Open Dissent (cont.)

Anna Akhmatova, “Requiem” (1940) Heart of a Dog [adaptation of Bulgakov story] (Bortko, 1988) Mikhail Zoshchenko -“The Little Grey Goat” (Stories about Lenin) -“The Banya” -“Nervous People” -“A Dogged Sense of Smell” -“Aristokratka”

Week 7 : Stalinism, 1934 and the turn to Socialist Realism

Katerina Clark “Socialist Realism in Soviet Literature” (1921) 1934 Speech at Writers’ Union The fates of Olesha, Akhmatova, Bulgakov, Zoshchenko

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The Fate of a Man (Bondarchuk, 1950) –or- The Thief (Chukhrai, 1997)

Week 8 : E. Europe’s Fraught Relationship with Communism

Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind (1953) (excerpts) Ashes and Diamonds (Wajda, 1958) Katherine Lebow, Unfinished Utopia: Nowa Huta, Stalinism, and Polish Society (excerpts)

Week 9 : E. Europe’s Fraught Relationship with Communism

Sławomir Mrożek, “The Elephant” (1957) and Tango (1964) Marek Hłasko, Eighth Day of the Week (1957) -or- Knife in the Water (Polański, 1962) Hands Up (Skolimowski, 1967)

Week 10 : E. Europe’s Fraught Relationship with Communism

Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) –or- The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kaufman, 1988)

Week 11: Stagnation and the Birth of Solidarity

Rejs (Piwowski, 1970) –or- Man of Marble (Wajda, 1976) Adam Michnik, Letters from the Gdansk Prison (1985) (excerpts) Closely Watched Trains (Menzel, 1966)

Week 12 : Late Socialism

Vanished Empire (Shakhnazarov, 2008) Alexei Yurchak, Everything was Forever Until it was No More (2006)(excerpts) Blind Chance (Kieslowski, 1987)

Week 13 : Perestroika

Little Vera (Pichul, 1988) –or- Repentance (Abuladze, 1984) Anna from 6 to 18 (Mikhalkov, 1994) –or- My Perestroika (Hessman, 2010) Pigs (Pasilkowski, 1992)

Week 14 : Post-Soviet Era (Russia)

Viktor Pelevin, Omon Ra (1992) Tycoon (Lungin, 2002) -or- Brother (Balabanov, 1999) Leviathan (Zviagintsev, 2014) –or- The Fool (Bykov, 2014)

Week 15 : Post-Soviet Era (Poland)

White (Kieslowski, 1994) Dorota Maslowska, Snow White and Russian Red (2005)