This course analyzes four categories of texts, both verbal and visual:
1. a survey of Russian folk belief, which illustrates the animistic nature of Russian popular beliefs about the world that persist to this day;
2. a large selection of the best-known Russian folk tales, to be compared with German and English tales, epics;
3. scholarly articles analyzing the differences between folklore and literature and representing various theoretical/critical schools: Structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis; and feminism;
4. modern works of art inspired by folklore: literary works inspired by folklore;
5. visual materials (films, animation films, paintings, book illustrations, and handicrafts);
6. music inspired by Russian folklore.