480017 KO Biblical topics in the Russian literature (2020S)

As in many literatures of the Christian countries, Russian literature originates from the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium. That is why the biblical motifs play there an important role. Christianization of previously pagan Russia began in 988 with the baptism of the Grand Duke Vladimir of Kiev. In the first centuries after the Christianization of Rus, the texts, which were translated from Greek into the literary language of Orthodox Slaves, Church Slavonic, came to the Eastern Slaves. The so-called Old Russian literature was also mostly Christianized. The great Russian literature only began in the 18th century with the reforms of Peter the Great. This fact also Europeanized Russian literature: Racine and Boileau took the place of the Byzantine ecclesiastical books. But we still can find the biblical motifs in the literature. In the 19th century the Christian motifs were also combined with Russian patriotism and messianism. In the 20th century the literature in Russia tried to connect art and religion. Due to the high intellectual and artistic level, this time was depicted as the "Silver Age". Here we find many attempts to understand and to interpret the Bible. Between a literary representation of the biblical motifs and a theological dogmatic, however, tensions arise due to different interpretations. The course pursues the goal of introducing subject-related texts and programmatic statements in the subject areas, issues and orientations of the biblical motifs in Russian literature. The course combines different methods of text analysis such as: hermeneutics, positivism, formalism, etc. We will read selected texts of Russian writers. In addition, each student must prepare a presentation on the relevant topic. The contents of the course are conveyed through lectures, oral presentation and a group work.