The New Soviet Person: How to read 1920’s and 1930’s

This open textbook is designed to teach students how to read Russian literature from the 1920’s and 1930’s. It will teach students to develop stylistic intuitions in reading that native Russian speakers already have by dint of the fact that they were raised in the culture. They will learn to identify irony, what is ideologically pro-Soviet or anti-Soviet (and learn to read between the lines), analyze metaphors, colloquialisms, Soviet cliche and catchphrases, and also learn to use these devices by writing parodies of certain writers (so the course would have a creative writing component). In other words, this textbook helps students bridge the gaps between their understanding of the world and the Soviet one that non-native speakers are almost never able to bridge using currently available resources.