Freshman Seminar: Gogol: A Journey into the Fantastic

Gogol's altered states of reality uniquely shape the rise of modern Russian literature and anticipate the fictional worlds of Kafka and Borges. Gogol unfolds a grotesque gallery of characters with radish-shaped heads and ghosts with moustaches, who live in a world, in which dogs can talk and noses can walk. Dostoevsky was among the first to relish the labyrinths of Gogol's fantasy scapes; we will follow in Dostoevsky's footsteps. Enrollment limited to 19. Written permission required.