C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
G. R. Lomer, ed. The Student’s Course in Literature.
A College Curriculum in Literature: Russian Literature
By Gerhard Richard Lomer (1882–1970)
71. Introduction to Russian Literature
As a nation, Russia awoke late to its power to literary expression. It has always been more stirred by ideas and ideals than careful of literary form. Its literature is a literature of primitive power. The position of Russia in the modern world makes it desirable for the educated man or woman to have a general knowledge of the outlines of Russian literary history and an acquaintance with the masterpieces of its numerous great writers.
Reading:Russian Lyric Poetry; The Realistic School; Comenius; Pushkin; Gogol; Goncharov; Turgenev; Dostoyevsky; Tolstoy; Chekhov; Gorky; Andreyev.
The Russians are great story-writers and no student of modern fiction or short-story writing can neglect the contribution that is being made by Russia to this form of writing. A new civilization and a different ideal of life are revealed to the student of literature as well as a different technique of writing fiction.
Reading:Pushkin; Gogol; Goncharov; Turgenev; Dostoyevsky; Tolstoy; Chekhov; Gorky; Andreyev.
The rapidity of its development and the excellence of its attainment make Russian lyric poetry worthy of the student’s attention. The influence of romanticism made itself felt in all the literatures of Europe, and in Russia especially in the poetry of Zhukovsky, Lermontov, and Pushkin. In addition to these, the student will read selections from Nekrasov, Kozlov, Tyutchev, Khomyakov, Maykov, Tolstoy, A. Fet, Apukhtin, and others.
This course supplements that on “Russian Lyric Poetry” and introduces the student to the chief poets who figure in the newer movement in Russian poetry.
Reading:Selections from Kolstov, Nekrasov, and Nadson.
The writers of Poland occupy an interesting position in the history of European literature. In their work are to be found the dominant characteristics of their courageous and harassed race. The student will find the work of these men not the least interesting among the minor literatures of Europe.
Reading:Mickiewicz; Słowacki; Krasiński; Sienkiewicz.