F.M.Dostoevsky's /Crime and Punishment/

This monographic course focuses on the examination of one of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s key novels and its historical and ideological context. Course objectives are to study and comment on the philosophical, social, religious, and intertextual problems of Dostoevsky's novel. Topics of discussion will include the so-called “Petersburg text” and the symbolism of space; sex, violence, and suicide in the novel; Dostoevsky’s perception of capitalism and socialism; the religious canvas underlying the main plot; and the concept of polyphony in the novel (M. Bakhtin). Students will become familiar with the most brilliant interpretations of the novel, as well as the main film adaptations.