RUSS 142 - Dostoevsky and Psychology (in English)

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Fyodor Dostoevsky was an avid student of the human mind, with particular interest in aberrant and self-destructive behavior. He was steeped in the medical literature of his day, and drew on this knowledge as well as on his four-year-long prison experience to endow his characters with fascinating psychological depth. And after Dostoevsky’s death, his works have been cited by Freud and some other psychologists to support theories of their own. This course focuses on a number of works in which Dostoevsky’s depiction of psychological issues is particularly crucial to the central message he attempts to convey. Readings include three of the major novels (Crime and Punishment, The Devils, and The Brothers Karamazov) as well as a number of Dostoevsky’s shorter works. A detailed examination of the texts is accompanied by a discussion of the nineteenth century psychological literature which was admired by Dostoevsky, as well as that which was later produced under his influence. Mr. Arndt III.

Two 75-minute periods, plus a 50-minute discussion period.

All readings and discussion in English.