Text, Context, Intertext: Readings and New Media in the 21st Century

The goal of this course is to develop students’ skills in reading and interpreting contemporary texts in the post-Soviet era. They will learn to comprehend the background of the text, to grasp the meaning of the context, and to distinguish intertexts. Students will work with different kinds of new media texts including online news, social media excerpts, forums, YouTube videos, interviews, etc. They will read articles and essays of Shenderovich, Rubinshtein, political verses of Bykov, and short stories of Tolstaya, Pelevin, and Sorokin.

During class meetings, students will gain practice in examining and interpreting readings and participate in the discussion of texts—both those assigned and those found by the students themselves. They will prepare written assignments and produce various texts, ranging from essays to reports to short fiction.