Dates: March 25 - April 24, 2026
Day/Time: Wednesday, Friday 11:50 AM - 13:10 PM EST
Level: 200
Certificate: None
Instructor:
Galina Rymbu, Smolny Beyond Borders
Language of Instruction: Russian
This course explores ecocritical approaches to poetry analysis, with a particular focus on Russophone avant-garde and modernist ‘nature poetry’ of the first half of the 20th century. Additionally, the course uses the ecocritical lens to examine Soviet-era ‘nonconformist poetry’, including works associated with the ‘philological school’, materialists, and other movements. A significant component of the course is dedicated to contemporary ecopoetry, with an emphasis on decolonial perspectives and trans-local and transnational poetics, particularly concerning Central Asia and Eastern/Central Europe.
Throughout the 20th century, numerous poets were influenced by philosophical developments and scientific discoveries that prompted a reexamination of human-nonhuman relationships and broader conceptions of nature. However, poetry from different periods often reveals internal contradictions: images that affirm the agency of non-human others coexist with speciesist metaphors or critiques of dominant linguistic frameworks intersect with the aestheticized representation of extractivism. In contrast, contemporary poetry frequently engages directly with the eco-discourse, encompassing activism, politics, and environmental policy. Modern poets address global and local ecological crises, envision catastrophic or post-human futures, reflect on eco-logical ways of life, critique speciesist languages and metaphors, and explore alternative modes of communication that transcend human actors, incorporating plant and animal life.
We will engage in close reading of works such as Jelena Guro’s ‘Vegetarian’s Dream’, Mikhail Jeriomin’s ‘Foliage Speech’, Alexey Parshchikov’s ‘Oil’, Aya Musakhan’s ‘Chronicle of My Radioactive Days’, and Janis Sinaiko’s ‘From the Depths of the Species Defeat’, to consider how both contemporary ecopoetics and ecocritical reinterpretations of earlier poetry contributed to literature’s broader ecological imagination. Poetry by Osip Mandelshtam, Nikolai Zabolotskii, Vielimir Khlebnikov, Alexander Vvedienskii, Gennadii Aygi, Jaan Kaplinsky, Anna Glazova, Sergo Mushtatov, Nika Skandiaka, Sandra Shevchenko, Tatyjaas Filippova, Oleksandr Kocharian, and others is also on the syllabus.
Credits: 1 US / 2 ECTS
Guidelines for the Statement of Interest
Please prepare a reflective statement explaining your interest in the Smolny Beyond Borders online course. Upload the file with a title in Latin alphabet using the following format:
yourLastnameFirstname_course title. The clarity and substance of your statement will play an important role in our selection process. Describe your motivations and goals for taking this course succinctly yet thoughtfully. Please write your statement in the course’s language of instruction.
