Russian Woman: The Search for Identity in Russian Film, 1930s to 2009

Block 5 course, 2010

Survey of the Soviet and Russian cinema by (or about Russian women, starting with Stalin's propaganda films of the 1930s, and ending with the Russian version of the "chick flick" of early 2000s.

The movies selected for the course reflect the evolution of Russian women's psyche, their changing self-awareness and their role in social life. Throughout Russian history, society imposed a narrowly defined role for women: at various times, she was to be an asexual comrade prepared to sacrifice not only her own life but even her children for the good of her Motherland, or an understanding and forgiving housewife who abhores the very idea of an independent career, or a strong-willed woman who can step over law, honor and love....Each movie then deals with the conflict between this externally-imposed role and the woman's own idea of self and her destiny.

This course pursues an interdisciplinary approach, the overlapping disciplines are: cinema studies, women's studies and Russian language and area studies.

Taught by visiting professor Tatiana Nikolskaya.