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Books About Anna Karenina

Approaches to Teaching Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

Want to take the next step in your understanding of Tolstoy's lively, complicated novel? Many literary experts have taken a crack at explaining the nuances of this book—and we've collected some of the best resources right here!

Approaches to Teaching Tolstoy's Anna Karenina
Edited by Liza Knapp and Amy Mandelker

Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is probably the most often taught 19th- century Russian novel in the American academy. Teachers have found that including this virtuoso work of art on a syllabus reaps many rewards, especially in courses that connect texts thematically (e.g., Adultery in the Novel) or theoretically (e.g., Russian Literature into Film, Theory of Narrative). It also stirs up heated classroom discussion—on sex and sexuality, dysfunction in the family, gender roles, society's hypocrisy and cruelty. But because of translation and transliteration problems, the peculiarity of Russian names and terms, the unfamiliarity of Russian geography and history, and the very size of the novel, teaching it presents challenges. This volume provides a comprehensive resource for dealing with these difficulties.



Learn more about the book from the Modern Library Association.