Through novels, short stories, poems, films, and cultural criticism produced in the last fifty years, the course equips students with the tools needed to unravel the historical, social, and philosophical underpinnings that have shaped Russian culture both within its native borders and in the global diaspora presented by the émigré community. The course analyzes state-sanctioned vs. oppositionist cultural productions while offering a prism through which the human experience is examined, inviting students to engage with a storytelling tradition that crosses, challenges and transcends linguistic and cultural thresholds.