Russian Culture I

Introduction into Russian history and culture from the origins to the end of end of the Nineteenth century.
The course deals with different aspects of the history of Russian culture from the Middle Ages to the end of the Nineteenth century. Particular attention will be paid on the most important political, social, philosophical, religious and esthetic concepts, which were characteristic for the different epochs of Russian culture. The most important cultural concepts which dominated the successive historical epochs will be introduced and analysed on the background of the main events of political history. The principal cultural concepts are above all expressed in written literature, therefore we experience them through the study of literary sources. Thus, the story of literature and language constitutes a privileged field of research in order to scrutinize these concepts.
The course will also deal with different fields of Russian culture in a transverse modality. The main goal of the proposed didactic route will be the acquisition of knowledge concerning the periodization of Russian culture, the Russian Orthodoxy, the geopolical particularities and the ideological structures, the general aspects of such areas of Russian culture like language, literature and arts.