RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 1
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
RUSS 0090: Russian Fairy Tales
Spring 2013
Lectures: Monday, Wednesday 12:00 – 12:30 pm
Recitations: Thursday, Friday
Office: CL 1417
Tel: (412) 624-5906 (no voice mail)
Instructors: Marc Wisnosky (maw101@pitt.edu),
Chip Crane, PhD (chipcrane@hotmail.com),
Kiun Hwang (kih12@pitt.edu)
Office hours: TBA – see CourseWeb
Schedule of Classes and Assignments
Abbreviations:
AA—Afanas′ev, A. Russian Fairy Tales.
BB—Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales.
LI—Ivanits, Linda J. Russian Folk Belief.
CW—CourseWeb
* The instructors reserve rights to make changes in course schedule throughout the term.
Week 1
Monday, January 7
LECTURE
SYLLABUS. DEFINITIONS AND ISSUES. RUSSIA AND ITS PEOPLE
Assignment due
 None
 Take practice quiz on Course Description on CourseWeb!
Wednesday,
January 9
LECTURE
RUSSIAN PAGANISM
Assignment due
 Read Course Description in CourseWeb under syllabus folder for quiz.
 Take practice quiz on Course Description on CourseWeb! The quiz will
be unavailable at 9am Thursday. Tell you instructors if you have any
problems, issues, or questions about the quiz and quiz format.
 LI: pp. 3–18, 51–63 (pp. 169–177 appendix of folk accounts)
In Class
 Film clip: A. Tarkovskii’s Andrei Rublev (1966)
Thursday,
January 10,
Friday, January 11
RECITATION
RUSSIAN PAGANISM
Assignment due
 CW: “Definitions of Basic Terms” in CourseWeb in Course Documents folder
in Russian Fairy Tales Main Documents folder.
 LI: pp. 64–82 (pp. 178–189 folk accounts)
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
Quiz will cover all readings you did this week, as well as lecture and
recitation material.
Week 2
Monday,
January 14
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY
Assignment due
 CW: Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (PDF)
RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 2
In Class
Film clip: Clip from Orthodox service.
Wednesday,
January 16
LECTURE
THE CALENDAR, ICONS, AND FOLK BELIEF
Assignment due
 CW: Andrei Sinyavsky, Orthodoxy: “The Calendar,” pp. 207-220 (PDF)
In Class
Film clip: S. Paradjanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964)
Thursday,
January 17,
Friday, January 18
RECITATION
Week 3
Monday,
January 21
Wednesday,
January 23
LECTURE
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY AND ICON ART
Assignment due
 CW: Andrei Sinyavsky, Orthodoxy: “The Specialization of the Saints,” pp. 201206, and “Icons” (PDF)
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to discuss Russian Orthodox Christianity,
Icons, and folk belief.
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
NO CLASS – MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR DAY OBSERVANCE
MAX LÜTHI, ANDREI SINYAVSKY, AND STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FOLKTALES
Assignment due
 CW: Max Lüthi, The European Folk Tale: Form and Nature (PDF)
 AA: “Ivan the Peasant’s Son and the Thumb-Sized Man,” pp. 262–268
Thursday,
January 24, Friday,
January 25
RECITATION
LÜTHI, SINYAVSKY, AND STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FOLKTALES
Assignment due
 CW: Andrei Sinyavsky, “Ivan the Fool” (PDF)
 Bring Afanas′ev to class
 AA: “Ivanushko, the Little Fool,” pp. 62–66
 AA: “Emelya The Simpelton” pp. 46-48
 AA: “Prince Ivan, the Firebird, and the Grey Wolf,” pp. 612-625
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to discuss the tales from Lüthian and
Sinyavsky’s perspectives
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
Week 4
Monday, January
28
LECTURE
STRUCTURALIST APPROACH TO FAIRY TALES: PROPP
Assignment due
 CW: Vladimir Propp, “The Method and Material,” pp. 18–24, 149–155 (PDF)
 AA: “The Magic Swan Geese,” pp. 349–351
Wednesday,
January 30
LECTURE
STRUCTURALIST APPROACH TO FAIRY TALES: PROPP
Assignment due
 AA: “Ivan the Peasant’s Son and the Thumb-Sized Man,” pp. 262-268
 AA: “The White Duck,” pp. 342-345
RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 3
Thursday,
January 31, Friday,
February 1
RECITATION
Week 5
Monday,
February 4
Wednesday,
February 6
LECTURE
STRUCTURALIST APPROACH TO FAIRY TALES: PROPP
Assignment due
 AA: “The Crystal Mountain,” pp. 482-485
 Review for examination #1. Come to class with questions or requests to review
specific material.
 Write out two multiple-choice questions (four answers each; indicate the correct
answer). Students who submit good questions will earn participation credit.
EXAMINATION #1
Includes all materials (readings, lectures, recitations) to date.
PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACH TO FAIRY TALES: FREUD AND BETTELHEIM
Assignment due
 BB: pp. 97–111
 AA: “The Three Kingdoms,” pp. 49-54
 AA: “Two Ivans, Soldier’s Sons,” pp. 463–475
Thursday,
February 7,
Friday, February 8
RECITATION
BETTELHEIM: YOUNGEST CHILD AND TWO SIBLING TALES
Assignment due
 BB: pp. 78–83, 90–96
 AA: “The Armless Maiden,” pp. 294–299
 AA: “Shemiaka the Judge,” pp. 625–627
 AA: “Misery,” pp. 20–24
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
Week 6
Monday,
February 11
BETTELHEIM: SLEEPING BEAUTY TALES
Assignment due
 BB: pp. 225–236
 AA: “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha,” pp. 79–86
 AA: “The Enchanted Princess,” pp. 600–611
In Class
 Film clip: Sleeping Beauty (ballet)
Wednesday,
February 13
BETTELHEIM: ANIMAL BRIDE AND GROOM TALES
Assignment due
 BB: pp. 282-291, 295-310
 AA: “The Snotty Goat,” pp. 200–202
 CW: Sergei Aksakov, “The Little Scarlet Flower” (PDF)
In Class
 Film clip: L. Atamanov’s The Little Scarlet Flower
Thursday,
February 14,
Friday,
February 15
RECITATION
BETTELHEIM: SLEEPING BEAUTY AND ANIMAL BRIDE AND GROOM TALES
Assignment due
 AA: “The Frog Princess,” pp. 119–123
 AA: “The Feather of Finist, the Bright Falcon,” pp. 580-588
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to analyze Sleeping Beauty and Animal
Bride Tales
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 4
Week 7
Monday,
February 18
LECTURE
PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACHES TO FAIRY TALES: JUNG AND VON FRANZ
Assignment due
 CW: Marie-Louise von Franz, “Taboos” (PDF)
 AA: “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” pp. 439–447
Wednesday,
February 20
LECTURE
VON FRANZ: BABA YAGA AND KOSHCHEY THE DEATHLESS
Assignment due
 AA: “Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth,” pp. 76-79
 AA: “Baba Yaga,” pp. 194-195
 AA: “Koshchey the Deathless,” pp. 485-494
In Class
 Film clip: A. Rou’s Fire, Water, and Copper Pipe
Thursday,
February 21,
Friday,
February 22
RECITATION
VON FRANZ AND BABA YAGA AND KOSHCHEY THE DEATHLESS
Assignment due
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to analyze tales from Jungian and Von
Franz’s perspectives
 AA: “Maria Morevna,” pp. 553–562
 AA: “The Maiden Tsar,” pp. 229-234
 AA: “The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise,” pp. 427–437
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
Week 8
Monday,
February 25
LECTURE
THE AUTHORSHIP OF FOLKLORE
Assignment due
 CW: Petr Bogatyrev and Roman Jakobson, “Folklore as a Special Form of
Creativity” (PDF)
Wednesday,
February 27
LECTURE
Assignment due
 CW: “Sadko,” pp. 32–42
ART AND MUSIC
In Class
 Opera: Nikolai Rimskii-Korsakov’s Sadko
 Music: Modest Mussorgskii’s “Night on Bald Mountain”
 Film clip: Disney’s Fantasia (1940)
Thursday,
February 28,
Friday,
March 1
RECITATION
THE AUTHORSHIP OF FOLKLORE AND ART
Assignment due
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to discuss Bogatyrev and Jakobson’s
work and art.
 Review for examination #2. Come to class with questions or requests to review
specific material.
RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 5
Week 9
Monday,
March 4
LECTURE
Wednesday,
March 6
LECTURE


EXAMINATION # 2
Emphasizes all materials (readings, lectures, recitations) since first examination.
Examinations are not cumulative by design, but may require cumulative
knowledge. For example, a question on the last examination about a tale read
toward the end of the semester may require you to analyze the tale through the
lens of an analytical method introduced in a theoretical reading toward the
beginning of the semester. Alternatively, a question about a theoretical or
methodological approach to fairy tales introduced toward the end of the
semester may require you to compare this approach to one introduced earlier.
FEMINIST APPROACH TO FAIRY TALES
Assignment due
 CW: Marcia Lieberman, “Some Day My Prince Will Come” (PDF)
In Class
 Film clip: I. Ivanov-Vano’s The Tale of the Dead Princes and Seven Knights (1951)
Thursday,
March 7,
Friday,
March 8
RECITATION
FEMINISM, BAD WIVES, AND WISE MAIDENS TALES
Assignment due
 AA: “The Bad Wife,” pp. 56–57
 AA: “The Goldfish,” pp. 528–533
 AA: “The Wondrous Wonder, the Marvelous Marvel,” pp. 13–15
 AA: “The Wise Little Girl,” pp. 252–255
 AA: “The Wise Maiden and the Seven Robbers,” pp. 134–140
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to analyze tales from feminist
perspectives
 No quiz this week.
Week 10
NO CLASSES – SPRING BREAK
No classes Monday, March 10 – Friday, March 15
Week 11
Monday,
March 18
LECTURE
FEMINIST APPROACH, SNOW WHITE AND WICKED STEPMOTHER TALES
Assignment due
 CW: Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass” (PDF)
 CW: Aleksandr Afanas′ev, “The Magic Mirror” (PDF)
 CW: Alexander Pushkin, “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven
Knights”
In Class
 Film clip: Disney, Snow White (1937)
Wednesday,
March 20
LECTURE
SNOW WHITE AND WICKED STEPMOTHER TALES
Assignment due
 BB: pp. 66–73, 199-215
 CW: Aleksandr Ostrovskii, “The Snow Maiden” (PDF)
Extra Credit: Deadline to meet with instructor in person or by email about your Extra
Credit paper. You MUST have discussed the paper to get credit for the final draft.
RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 6
Thursday,
March 21,
Friday,
March 22
RECITATION
SNOW WHITE AND WICKED STEPMOTHER TALES
Assignment due
 AA: “Burenushka, the Little Red Cow,” pp. 146–150
 AA: “Jack Frost,” pp. 366-39
 AA: “Baba Yaga,” pp. 194-195
 AA: “The Maiden Tsar,” pp. 229–234
 Review lecture notes. Come prepared to analyze tales from a feminist
perspective
 Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
Covers all material from March 6 to March 22.
Week 12
Monday,
March 25
LECTURE
EPIC AND BYLINY
Assignment due
 CW: “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber” (bylina), pp. 28–36
 AA: “Ivan the Simpleton,” pp. 142–145
 AA: “Foma Berennikov,” pp. 284–287
 AA: “Ilya Muromets and the Dragon,” pp. 569–575
In Class
 Film clip: Ptushko, The Sword and the Dragon (1956)
Wednesday,
March 27
LECTURE
LITERARY FAIRY TALES: PUSHKIN AND POETRY
Assignment due
 CW: Aleksandr Pushkin, “The Golden Cockerel” (PDF)
Thursday,
March 28,
Friday, March 29
RECITATION
PUSHKIN AND POETRY
Assignment due
 CW: Aleksandr Pushkin, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son, the Glorious
and Mighty Knight Prince Guidon Saltonovich, and of the Fair Swan-Princess”
(PDF)
Week 13
Monday, April 1
LECTURE
SORCERY, SPOILING, AND HEALING
Assignment due
 LI: pp. 83-124
 LI: “The Colonel and the Witch,” pp. 194-195
 AA: “The Sorceress,” pp. 567–568
 AA: “The Vampire,” pp. 593–598
Wednesday,
April 3
LECTURE
INTRODUCTION TO MARXIST THEORY
Assignment due
 CW: Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell,” pp. 72–95 (PDF)
Thursday,
April 4,
Friday, April 5
RECITATION



MARXIST APPROACH TO FAIRY TALES
AA: “Salt,” pp. 40–44
Review lecture notes. Come prepared to analyze tales from Marxist perspective.
Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
RUSS 0090 Spring 2013 Syllabus 7
Week 14
Monday, April 8
LECTURE
SOCIALIST REALISM AND SOVIET FAIRY TALES
Assignment due
 CW: Katerina Clark, The Soviet Novel (PDF)
 CW: Valentin Kataev, “The Flower of Seven Colors” (PDF)
 CW: Arkadii Gaidar, “Tale of the Military Secret” (PDF)
In Class
 Film Clip: M. Tsekhanovsky’s The Flower of Seven Colors (1948)
Wednesday,
April 10
LECTURE
Thursday,
April 11, Friday,
April 12
RECITATION
Week 15
Monday,
April 15
LECTURE
Wednesday,
April 17
LECTURE
Thursday,
April 18, Friday,
April 19
RECITATION
Saturday, April 27
SOCIALIST REALISM, DANIIL KHARMS, AND ABSURDISM
Assignment due
 CW: Daniil Kharms, “A Ffairy Tale,” “A Fable, ” “The Copper Look,” and
“The Four-Legged Crow” (PDF)



SOVIET FAIRY TALES
CW: Lazar Lagin, The Old Genie Khottabych: A Story of Make-Believe (PDF)
Take OMET survey online! You received a link by email.
Do online quiz on CourseWeb between Friday 1pm and Monday 12pm.
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY FAIRY TALES
Assignment due
 CW:Nina Sadur, “The Cute Little Redhead” and “Silky Hair” (PDF)
 CW: Ludmilla Petrushevskya, “Revenge” and “The Cabbage-patch Mother”
(PDF)
 Take OMET survey online! You received a link by email.



EXAMINATION #3
Emphasizes all materials (readings, lectures, recitations) since Examination #2.
Extra-credit assignments must be submitted to Turnitin by 5:00 p.m.
There is no separate final examination (although the makeup examination is
held during the regular examination time, the time and place of which will be
announced later in the semester).
ANIMAL TALES
Assignment due
 AA: “The Death of the Cock,” pp. 17-19
 AA: “The Castle of the Fly,” pp. 25-26
 AA: “The Pike with the Long Teeth,” pp. 54-55
 AA: “The Sheep, the Fox, and the Wolf,” pp. 275-276
MAKE-UP EXAMINATION, 2:00 PM,
LAWRENCE HALL 121