History of Russian Literary Language and Culture

1 Course Unit

This course examines the linguistic, literary, and social history of the Russian language from the earliest written records to the modern day. Course topics include: the creation of the Slavic alphabets and the first literary language of the Slavs, Old Church Slavonic; the beginnings and development of writing and literacy in Medieval Rus (modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine); the evolution of the Russian literary language, its styles, and registers; grammatical categories of Russian; features of Russian lexicography; the social history and politics of language use; analysis of texts. Readings in Russian & English; advanced language proficiency required. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit