Russophone Cultures I

The course will address various aspects of Russian political and cultural history from the second half of the Seventeenth century to the first half of the Eighteenth century. The aim of the course is to examine ‒ within the context of major historical events from Peter the Great to Elizabeth Petrovna ‒ the development of Eighteenth-century Russian culture in areas such as language and literature, the visual arts, the sciences, the history of ideas, and popular culture. The course will cover the following topics: the historical background from the reign of Fedor Alekseevich to the reign of Elizaveta Petrovna (the period from 1676 to 1762), the Petrine reforms, the impact of European culture, the development of language and literature, printing and publishing, the aesthetics of classicism, the arts, and daily life.