Course Description:

Narcotics occupy one of the most complex and stigmatized spaces in contemporary Russian culture, yet they appear with striking frequency in Soviet and post-Soviet literature. This course examines literary depictions of narcotics, tracing how drug culture has been represented, reimagined, and debated in Russian fiction. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the course situates drug-themed literary works within broader cultural, historical, and political frameworks.

Students will explore how narcotics function as narrative devices, metaphors, and symbols. Through close readings of key literary texts from different eras, critical studies, historical, sociopolitical, and anthropological sources, students will trace the evolving intersections between drug use, legislation, public discourse, and artistic expression. By treating narcotics as a prism through which Russian literature and culture are refracted, the course invites students to view Russia from an unexpected angle, reshaping how we read its cultural imagination.