RusSiAn FolkLoRe
Russ 101 - Course Page

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ABOUT THE FINAL

Russian Folklore or Russ 101 is an introductory course on Russian culture, but knowledge of the Russian language is not required nor expected. The course is conducted entirely in English and all materials are available in translation. This course satisfies two Wheaton gen ed requirements: Arts and Humanities and Perspectives on the Non-Western World. (AHNW)

Russian Folklore is "a general, interdisciplinary introduction to Russian culture with special emphasis on folklore, tracing its development from pre-Christian times to the present. The course will center on the study of folk tales, epics and ballads; beliefs, traditions and superstitions; the influence of folklore on the development or Russian literature and art." - Wheaton College Catalog.

Russian Folklore this semester will include the following topics: Pagan Russia and Medieval Russia, dvoever'e; Russian Fairy Tales; The Russian Folk Epic; Rituals, Calendars, and Holidays; Proverbs; the Artists at Abramtsevo; Russian Folklore in Music and Art; Russian Folk Songs, Costumes, and Folk Art.

Below is a list of materials available for this course in the form of books, music and videos, and internet sites, already linked to this page. This information is made public for internet consumption. For any further details regarding schedules, assignment, grading, papers and/or exams, you must be a member of the class or have our password.

TEXTS and INTERNET LINKS for this course:

REQUIRED and OPTIONAL TEXTS:
Russian Folk Belief, by Linda J. Ivanits, available at bookstore.
Readings Packet, available in 207 Knapton Hall, and assorted handouts.
Russian Fairy Tales, comp. Afanas'ev, available at bookstore, and on reserve. OPTIONAL only

ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY: BOOKS
The following books are on reserve and passages will be assigned as required reading. You are also free to peruse the books as your fancy dictates.
Russian Design, by Evgenia Kirichenko and Mikhail Anikst.
Russian Fairy Tales, comp. Afanas'ev
Russian Folk Art, by Alison Hilton
Russian Folk Belief, by Linda J. Ivanits
Russian Folklore: An Anthology in English Translation, ed. Alex E. Alexander

MUSIC and VIDEO MATERIALS -- most on reserve at the Library:
Russian Folk Songs, taped materials
Russian Folk Song and Dance, video
Excerpts from the following operas: Boris Godunov, Prince Igor; Ruslan and Ludmila
videos of the first two, in their entirety, are on reserve.
The Mighty Handful, music history video
Faces of Russia, tapes I and III

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INTERNET RESOURCES AND TEXTS:
The following Internet resources are available to you and several will be required material for this course. You may browse all of these resources, but, as usual with all internet sites, review and use the material critically.
PLEASE NOTE: these links will take you OUT of the Wheaton/Russian web-site, so have the course page book-marked.

The Wheaton Art Gallery , especially the section on "The Russian Style." [PASSWORD] Images for this course [PASSWORD] Images of Kizhi Russian Proverbs

Pitt's Russian Fairy-Tales course, University of Pittsburgh: Pitt's Definitions of basic terms Pitt's Glossary of Russian terms in Ivanits' book Pitt's Lists of Gods, Saints and Spirits Pitt's List of Folklore and Music Pitts Folk and Fairy Tale Images

Masha Holl's Russian Folklore page by Maria Gedilaghine Holl. MH's page on The Apples of Youth and the Living Water. MH's Medieval Russian History (Trivia) page and her MH's Medieval Russian Costumes page.

NEW LINKS: use after March break along with our bank of Images for this class. NOTE: I rearranged these links on March 27, checked that they all work, and fixed the one that didn't work. -FR Folk art and costumes links Folk Art / Culture sites on the Moscow Guide page [Click on "Folk Art" from the Culture page] include: Costumes, Samovars, Dymkovo Toys, Gzhel, Pavlovo Shawls, Gzhel, and Lacquer boxes. This site also has a synopsis of Russian folk festivals, which correspond to the list from "Russian Folk Belief." Lubok prints at http://www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/Lubok/lubintro.html Little Russia in US (formerly Little Russia in San Antonio) has links to tales, music and popular culture. Costumes (and other images) *NOTE: This link is ours and will require our password. Use the SAME word for the password and the username.  Russian nesting dolls/ Khokhloma-ware/ lacquer boxes [many of these are commercial sites, so use them with a critical eye] Matryoshki nesting dolls are on view at Russian Crafts.com. Use their material on the dolls and their history. *** NEW WORKING LINKS for Khokhloma-1 and Khokhloma-2. NOTE: Click on pictures to get an enlarged view. There is a short sketch of Palekh here for info on the lacquer-box town. Two commercial sites, Lacquerbox.com and Russiancollect.com, have extensive samples on display. You might want to take a look at the fairy-tale-inspired boxes, but check out the others as well. Our first link on Folk Art/Culture has information on the lacquer boxes of Fedoskino Fairy Tales, folk and literary versions. The traditional story of Snegurochka the Snow-Maiden is on one of our sites, and compare it to the ... Literary version of Snow-Maiden by Ostrovsky found on the Pitt site. The Children's page of Little Russia in US has fairy tales to listen to, plus illustrations and some texts in English.

Images of Kizhi Russian Folklore Site in Russian Slavic Paganism and Witchcraft web-site is interesting, and has list of God(esse)s and Spirits as well as spells but keep in mind that (1) this is not a scholarly site, (2) much of the material is simply taken from other sources, including Ivanits's book and (3) the pronunciation of names is apparently given in Polish rather than Russian. But it's useful, and fun.

There is a large Bibliography, maintained by Sang Hyun Kim. Russian Folklore Links is a list of useful links compiled for a course at the University of Alabama- some links are out of date or inoperative and should be replaced with the SEEFA links below. Last but not least, check out the Slavic and East European Folklore Association and their brief SEEFA Links

FOR MORE GENERAL RESOURCES, CHECK: From Vincennes University, WWW Folklore Resources

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Classroom and time: Meneely 105, MW 12:30-1:50 pm
Professor: Francoise Rosset, x3696 or frosset@wheatonma.edu

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Page created and maintained by FR, frosset@wheatonma.edu
Created: 8/01
Modified: 10/04