SLAV-R 535 CHEKHOV
SPRING 2017, TR 2:30-3:45
PROFESSOR SARA STEFANI
“Everything on earth is beautiful, everything – except what we ourselves think and do
when we forget the higher purposes of life and our own human dignity.” – A.P.
Chekhov
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Come read short stories and plays by one of the world’s greatest writers, Anton
Chekhov. In Spring 2017, we will read Chekhov’s stories and plays, starting with his early humorous
sketches (he once said he wrote them while in the bathhouse!) to the end of his mature period. We’ll also
read authors that influenced him and authors that he influenced, including Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf,
Katherine Mansfield, Vladimir Nabokov, Raymond Carver, and more. We’ll also watch movie and video
adaptations of Chekhov’s works by Louis Malle, the Wooster Group, Karen Shakhnazarov, and Kira
Muratova. All discussions are in English; texts are available in both Russian and English.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SARA STEFANI.