Neoliberalism, Authoritarianism, and Protest: Russian Culture from Perestroika to Putin

(4 Credits)

Drawing on a variety of forms (novels, short stories, poetry, films, performance art, and internet), produced from a variety of positions (nationalist, postmodern, liberal, leftist), this seminar offers an in-depth survey of the main cultural trends in Russia and the former Soviet Union since the mid-1980s. We will place contemporary leading writers, filmmakers, and performers such as Dmitry Prigov, Sergey Dovlatov, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Edward Limonov, Svetlana Alexievich, Andrey Zvyagintsev and Galina Rymbu, against the background of not only Russia’s political history but also of transformations in publishing and filmmaking, criticism and cultural consumption, and ultimately, the changing interrelationships between art, capital, and the state over the last 30+ years.