Russian Fairy Tales (RUSS 0090): Syllabus

Spring 2009 (2094)

Prepared by: David J. Birnbaum (djbpitt+tales@pitt.edu)
Last modified: 2009-04-13
Location: http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/2094/syllabus.html

Abbreviations:

• AA: Aleksandr Afanas′ev. Russian Fairy Tales. New York: Pantheon. 1973.
• CW On line on CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu).
• LI: Linda Ivanits. Russian Folk Belief. NY: M. E. Sharpe. 1982.
• Clover On line at http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/. The Course Description contains a full list of on-line readings.

Lecture, Monday, January 5

Topics for Monday, January 5

• Course introduction
• Film Clip: Tennant, Ever After (1998)

PowerPoint: Introduction

Assignment due Monday, January 5

• None

Lecture, Wednesday, January 7

Topics for Wednesday, January 7

• Quiz on course description (see assignment, below)
• Russian paganism. Pagan deities and festivals
• Film clip: Tarkovskii, Andrei Rublev (1966)
• Terminology

PowerPoint: Paganism

Assignment due Wednesday, January 7

• Study on-line Course Description (http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/2094/description.html) for quiz
• LI, pp. 3–18, 51–63, 169–77

Recitation, Thursday, January 8 and Friday, January 9

Topics for Thursday, January 8 and Friday, January 9

• Introduction
• Domestic and nature spirits
• Terminology

Assignment due Thursday, January 8 and Friday, January 9

• List of terms on line at http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/definitions.html
• LI, pp. 64–82, 178–89
• Clover, Pushkin, “Rusalka,” http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/rusalka.html

Lecture, Monday, January 12

Topics for Monday, January 12

• Guest lecture, Professor Sibelan Forrester (Swarthmore College): Collecting Russian Folklore

No PowerPoint for guest lecture

Assignment due Monday, January 12

• LI, pp. 19–50, 130–45

Lecture, Wednesday, January 14

Topics for Wednesday, January 14

• Film clip: Paradjanov: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964)
• Stylistic characteristics of folktales

PowerPoint: Stylistic analysis and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

Assignment due Wednesday, January 14

• LI, 83–124
• AA, “Ivan the Peasant’s Son and the Thumb-Sized Man,” pp. 262–68
• (Optional: The lecture on “Stylistic Characteristics of Folktales” will be based on the first three chapters of one of the recommended books: Max Lüthi, The European Folktale. You do not have to read this book [it is recommended, and not required, and we’ll summarize the most important details for you in lecture], but if you’d like to read it, this is the best time to do so.)

Recitation, Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16

Topics for Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16

• Sorcery and healing
• Shrieking

Assignment due Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16

• LI, 190–205

Lecture, Monday, January 19

No class: Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday observance (University closed)

Lecture, Wednesday, January 21

Topics for Wednesday, January 21

• Psychoanalytic approaches to fairy tales
  • Freudian: Bruno Bettelheim
  • Jungian: Marie-Louise von Franz
  • Self Theory: Sheldon Cashdan

PowerPoint: Psychology and Fairy Tales

Assignment due Wednesday, January 21

• Deadline for notifying instructors and Office of Disability Resources of special accommodation requests. (See Course Description or consult with one of the instructors for details.)
• CW, Bettelheim, pp. 102–111

Recitation, Thursday, January 22 and Friday, January 23

Topics for Thursday, January 22 and Friday, January 23

• Youngest Child tales
• Ivan Durak (Ivan the Fool)

Assignment due Thursday, January 22 and Friday, January 23

• AA, “Salt,” pp. 40–44
• AA, “The Three Kingdoms,” pp. 49–53
• AA, “Ivanushko, the Little Fool,” pp. 62–66
• AA, “The Princess Who Wanted to Solve Riddles,” pp. 115–17
• AA, “The Wicked Sisters,” pp. 356–60
• AA, “Prince Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf,” pp. 612–24

Lecture, Monday, January 26

Topics for Monday, January 26

• Music: Mussorgskii, “Night on Bald Mountain”
• Film clip: Disney, Fantasia (1940)
• The authorship of folklore

PowerPoint: Folklore as a Special Form of Creativity; Musorgskii

Assignment due Monday, January 26

• CW, Bogatyrev and Jakobson, “Folklore as a Special Form of Creativity,” pp. 32–46. (Note: Many students find this reading particularly difficult. We’ll go over it carefully in class, but read it ahead of time so that you’ll know what you already understand and what you need to ask about.)

Lecture, Wednesday, January 28

Topics for Wednesday, January 28

• Typologies of tales
• Two Sibling tales

PowerPoint: Two-Sibling Tales; Art

Assignment due Wednesday, January 28

• CW, Bettelheim, pp. 78–83, 90–96
• AA, “Misery,” pp. 20–24
• AA, “The Armless Maiden,” pp. 294–99
• AA, “The Magic Swan Geese,” pp. 349–51
• AA, “Two Ivans, Soldier’s Sons,” pp. 463–75
• AA, “Shemiaka the Judge,” pp. 625–27

Recitation, Thursday, January 29 and Friday, January 30

Topics for Thursday, January 29 and Friday, January 30

• General review for examination #1

Assignment due Thursday, January 29 and Friday, January 30

• 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) and two essay questions based on the material for Examination #1 and bring them to recitation. Students who submit good questions will earn participation credit.

Lecture, Monday, February 2

Examination #1

Includes all materials (readings, lectures, recitations) to date.

Lecture, Wednesday, February 4

Topics for Wednesday, February 4

• Animal Bride and Animal Groom Tales
• Film clip: Cocteau, Beauty and Beast (1946)
• Film clip: Disney, Beauty and Beast (1991)
• Film clip: Adamson/Jenson, Shrek (2001)
• Video clip: Swan Lake (ballet)

PowerPoint: Animal Brides and Grooms

Assignment due Wednesday, February 4

• CW, Bettelheim, pp. 282–291, 295–310

Recitation, Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6

Topics for Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6

• Animal Bride and Animal Groom Tales
• Review of Bettelheim and Freudian psychoanalysis

Assignment due Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6

• Clover, Aksakov, “The Little Scarlet Flower,” http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/little_scarlet_flower.pdf (or, less conveniently, http://pskov.freeyellow.com/tales/flower1.htm)
• AA, “The Frog Princess,” 119–23
• AA, “The Snotty Goat,” 200–02

Friday, February 6

Makeup Examination #1, 7:00 a.m., Slavic Department 1417 CL.

If you miss the regular examination because of an emergency, you may take the makeup examination at this time. No official note or excuse is required, but this is the only opportunity to make up Examination #1.

Lecture, Monday, February 9

Topics for Monday, February 9

• Feminism and the study of fairy tales

PowerPoint: Feminism

Assignment due Monday, February 9

• CW, Bottigheimer, “Silenced Women in the Grimms’ Tales,” pp. 115–31
• CW, Lieberman, “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” pp. 185–200

Lecture, Wednesday, February 11

Topics for Wednesday, February 11

• Feminist approaches to fairy tales
• Bad Wife tales
• Wise Maiden tales
• Riddles

PowerPoint: Bad Wives and Wise Maidens

Assignment due Wednesday, February 11

• CW, “Peter and Fevronia of Murom,” pp. 291–300
• AA, “The Wondrous Wonder, the Marvelous Marvel,” pp. 13–15
• AA, “The Wise Little Girl,” pp. 252–55

Recitation, Thursday, February 12 and Friday, February 13

Topics for Thursday, February 12 and Friday, February 13

• Feminist approaches to fairy tales
• Bad Wife tales
• Wise Maiden tales
• Riddles

Assignment due Thursday, February 12 and Friday, February 13

• AA, “The Bad Wife,” pp. 56–57
• AA, “The Wise Maiden and the Seven Robbers,” pp. 134–40
• AA, “The Taming of the Shrew,” pp. 161–62
• AA, “The Indiscreet Wife,” pp. 226–27
• AA, “The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise,” pp. 427–37
• AA, “The Goldfish,” pp. 528–32

Lecture, Monday, February 16

Topics for Monday, February 16

• Cinderella tales
• Film clip: Rou, Morozko (Jack Frost) (1964)
• Self Theory looks at Envy
• Music: Prokof′ev: Cinderella (ballet)
• Film clip: Tennant, Ever After (1998)

PowerPoint: Cinderella Tales

Assignment due Monday, February 16

• CW, Cashdan, “Envy,” 85–105
• AA, “Jack Frost,” pp. 366–69
• AA, “The Golden Slipper,” pp. 44–46
• AA, “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” pp. 439–47

Lecture, Wednesday, February 18

Topics for Wednesday, February 18

• Wicked stepmothers
• Film clip: Disney, Snow White (1937)
• Film clip: Disney, Cinderella (1950)

PowerPoint: Stepmothers and Cinderella

Assignment due Wednesday, February 18

• CW, Warner, “Wicked Stepmothers,” pp. 218–40
• CW, Gilbert and Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass”

Recitation, Thursday, February 19 and Friday, February 20

Topics for Thursday, February 19 and Friday, February 20

• Wicked stepmothers

Assignment due Thursday, February 19 and Friday, February 20

• CW, Bettelheim, pp. 66–73
• AA, “Burenushka, the Little Red Cow,” pp. 146–50
• AA, “The Maiden Tsar,” pp. 229–34
• AA, “Daughter and Stepdaughter,” pp. 278–79
• AA, “The Grumbling Old Woman,” pp. 340–41

Lecture, Monday, February 23

Topics for Monday, February 23

• Baba Yaga and Koshchey the Deathless

PowerPoint: Baba Yaga and Koshchey the Deathless

Assignment due Monday, February 23

• AA, “Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth,” pp. 76–79
• AA, “Baba Yaga,” pp. 194–95
• AA, “Koshchey the Deathless,” pp. 485–93

Lecture, Wednesday, February 25

Topics for Wednesday, February 25

• Structuralist approach to fairy tales

PowerPoint: Propp and Structuralism

Assignment due Wednesday, February 25

• AA, “The Magic Swan Geese,” pp. 349–51
• CW, Propp, pp. 19–24, 149–55
• (Optional: The Propp excerpts on Courseweb are taken from Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale, which is one of the recommended books for this course. Except for the excerpts reproduced on Courseweb, you do not have to read this book [it is recommended, and not required, and we’ll summarize the most important details for you in lecture], but if you’d like to read it, this is the best time to do so.)

Recitation, Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27

Topics for Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27

• Structuralist approach to fairy tales

Assignment due Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27

• AA, “The Three Kingdoms, Copper, Silver, and Gold,” pp. 375–87. As you read this tale in preparation for class, think about it from a structuralist perspective, looking for Proppian functions as listed and described in the Course Pack and the February 25 lecture. The focus of the recitation meeting will be your structuralist analysis of this tale.

Lecture, Monday, March 2

Topics for Monday, March 2

• Epics and byliny
• Film clip: Ptushko, The Sword and the Dragon (1956)

PowerPoint: Epics and Byliny

Assignment due Monday, March 2

• CW, “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber” (bylina), pp. 28–36
• AA, “Ivan the Simpleton,” pp. 142–45
• AA, “Foma Berennikov,” pp. 284–87
• AA, “Ilya Muromets and the Dragon,” pp. 569–75
• CW, “Sadko,” pp. 32–42

Lecture, Wednesday, March 4

Topics for Wednesday, March 4

• Snow White Tales
• Film clip: Disney, Snow White (1937)

PowerPoint: Snow White Tales

Assignment due Wednesday, March 4

• CW, Bettelheim, pp. 199–215
• Clover, Pushkin, “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights,” http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/children/texts/pushkin/seven.html or http://russian-crafts.com/tales/dead_pr.html
• Clover, Afanas′ev, “The Magic Mirror,” http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/MagicMirror.pdf

Recitation, Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6

Topics for Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6

• A Jungian perspective on evil in folk tales
• Baba Yaga and Koshchey the Deathless
• Snow White Tales

Assignment due Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6

• CW, von Franz, “Taboos,” pp. 190–214
• AA, “Maria Morevna,” pp. 553–62
• AA, “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” pp. 439–47 (review)
• AA, “The Maiden Tsar,” pp. 229–34 (review)

Lecture, Monday, March 9

Spring Recess for students (no classes)

Lecture, Wednesday, March 11

Spring Recess for students (no classes)

Recitation, Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13

Spring Recess for students (no classes)

Lecture, Monday, March 16

Examination #2

Emphasizes all materials (readings, lectures, recitations) since first examination.

Lecture, Wednesday, March 18

Topics for Wednesday, March 18

• Sleeping Beauty tales
• Video clip: Sleeping Beauty (Ballet)

PowerPoint: Sleeping Beauty and the Snow Maiden

Assignment due Wednesday, March 18

• CW, Bettelheim, pp. 225–36
• AA, “Prince Ivan and Princess Martha,” pp. 79–86
• AA, “The Enchanted Princess,” pp. 600–11
• All students who wish to submit extra-credit work must have discussed this work with an instructor by 5:00 p.m.

Recitation, Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20

Topics for Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20

• Literary fairy tales
• Ostrovskii, “The Snow Maiden”

Assignment due Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20

• Clover, Ostrovskii, “The Snow Maiden,” http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/snow_maiden.html
• LI, pp. 5–12 (review)

Friday, March 20

Makeup Examination #2, 7:00 a.m., Slavic Department 1417 CL.

If you miss the regular examination because of an emergency, you may take the makeup examination at this time. No official note or excuse is required, but this is the only opportunity to make up Examination #2.

Lecture, Monday, March 23

Topics for Monday, March 23

• Film: Cohn, Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) (part 1)

No PowerPoint.

Assignment due Monday, March 23

• Clover, viewing guide to Snow White: A Tale of Terror, http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/terror.pdf

Lecture, Wednesday, March 25

Topics for Wednesday, March 25

• Film: Cohn, Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) (part 2)

No PowerPoint.

Assignment due Wednesday, March 25

• Clover, viewing guide to Snow White: A Tale of Terror, http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/terror.pdf

Recitation, Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27

Topics for Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27

• Discussion of Snow White: A Tale of Terror

Assignment due Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27

• Review on-line viewing guide to Snow White: A Tale of Terror (http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/terror.pdf)

Lecture, Monday, March 30

Topics for Monday, March 30

• Marxist Approaches to Fairy Tales

PowerPoint: Marxist Approaches to Fairy Tales

Assignment due Monday, March 30

• CW, Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell,” pp. 72–95
• CW, Gaidar, “Tale of the Military Secret”
• CW, Shukshin, “Before the Cock Crows Thrice” (excerpt)

Lecture, Wednesday, April 1

Topics for Wednesday, April 1

• Fairy Tales in verse
• Alexander Pushkin
• Film clip, Ptushko, Tsar Saltan (1966)

PowerPoint Aleksandr Pushkin

Assignment due Wednesday, April 1

• CW, Pushkin, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son, the Glorious and Mighty Knight Prince Guidon Saltonovich, and of the Fair Swan-Princess”

Recitation, Thursday, April 2 and Friday, April 3

Topics for Thursday, April 2 and Friday, April 3

• Marxism
• Alexander Pushkin

Assignment due Thursday, April 2 and Friday, April 3

• Pushkin, “The Golden Cockerel” (on-line at http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/golden_cockerel.html)

Lecture, Monday, April 6

Topics for Monday, April 6

• Self Theory looks at Magic Objects
• Review of psychoanalytic approaches to fairy tales

PowerPoint Transitional Objects

Video from lecture:

• Lucille - Piaget's sensorimotor (Youtube)
• Harlow’s study on monkeys’ attachment (Youtube)

Assignment due Monday, April 6

• CW, Cashdan, “Objects that Love,” pp. 107–27

Lecture, Wednesday, April 8

Topics for Wednesday, April 8

• Nikolai Gogol′
• Film clip, Kropachev/Ptushko, Viy (1967)

PowerPoint: Nikolai Gogol′

Assignment due Wednesday, April 8

• CW, Gogol′, “Viy,” pp. 338–74
• AA, “The Sorceress,” pp. 567–68
• AA, “The Vampire,” pp. 593–98
• LI, “The Colonel and the Witch,” pp. 194–95

Recitation, Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10

Topics for Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10

• Tatyana Tolstaya
• Mythical Birds

Assignment due Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10

• CW, Tolstaya, “Date with a Bird,” pp. 116–30
• CW, Tolstaya, “The Poet and the Muse,” pp. 117–31
• AA, “The Feather of Finist, the Bright Falcon,” pp. 580–88

Lecture, Monday, April 13

Topics for Monday, April 13

• Nina Sadur

PowerPoint: Nina Sadur

Assignment due Monday, April 13

• CW, Sadur, “Rings,” pp. !!!
• CW, Sadur, “The Cute Little Redhead,” pp. 235–41
• CW, Sadur, “The Witch’s Tears,” pp. 264–69
• CW, Sadur, “Silky Hair,” pp. !!!
• Clover, Birnbaum and Sarsenov, “Who is the Cute Little Redhead?” (http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/sadur_redhead_2003-11-19.pdf)

Lecture, Wednesday, April 15

Examination #3

Emphasizes all materials (readings, lectures, recitations) since Examination #2.

Extra-credit assignments must be submitted to Turnitin by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 15.

Recitation, Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17

Topics for Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17

• Censored tales
• Course evaluation

Assignment due Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17

• Censored tales (handout)

Thursday, April 23

Makeup Examination #3, 4:00 p.m., Slavic Department 1417 CL

If you miss the regular examination because of an emergency, you may take the makeup examination at this time. No official note or excuse is required, but this is the only opportunity to make up Examination #3.