Essay Two/Assigment Two

Contemporary Russian Short Stories: Assignment Two

Deadline: Essay 2 Deadline Sunday 8 January 2022 23.55

The assignment depends on what version of the module you are taking. Please check which form of assessment and length of the essay is appropriate to you:

For first year students of Russian (RUS4016): you write a 2000 word essay worth 60%

on one of the essay questions 1-6 below

For Comparative Literature students (COM5016) and second year students of Russian RUS5016): you write a 2500-word essay worth 60% on one of the questions 1-6 below

Questions (all module codes)

Write an essay on one of the following questions, taking care to back up your argument with quotations from the text and references to secondary literature (usually at least three items), as well as defining any relevant terms.

You must write about story that is from a different conceptual bloc from your first essay 

‘I like to cross traditional phobias, passed through the generations over thousands of years with new technological forms, the transformation of the human being into something different’ (Starobinets). Discuss and assess the success of the ways in which ‘Icarus Gland’ combines traditional phobias and forms with new ones.

Is it fair to say that the prose of Slava Mogutin only breaks boundaries and taboos with its references to homosexual desire, or does it have a wider artistic agenda?

To what extent does any ONE or TWO texts studied reassess and reflect upon dominant trends in the Russian representations of the Caucasus?

Examine any one story studied as a reflection on or re-imagining of Russianness and Russia’s confrontation with other nations or ethnic groups. 

To what extent does any one story studied develop the technique of the Short Story genre in a noteworthy or innovative way. Refer to and quote theories of the short story in your answer.

Examine any one story studied as a response to trauma (ensure you define trauma with reference to the Freudian account).