Approaches to Teaching Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' by L. Knapp A. Mandelker (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 72I nineteenth centuries. The section on the Middle Ages is also rich in detailed examples, from the earliest sermons and other homiletic writings to the religious polemics which brought discord to this period but also produced a number of textsthat arefascinatingnot only as historicalevidence, but also as literature. This pioneering book makes a very considerable contribution to our knowledge of Belarusian literature of the Romantic period, and of the folkloric,religious and other sourcesfor it, as well as offeringa new typology of Slav Romanticism in general. The annotation is economical rather than optimally convenient, referringas it does to the items from the bibliography by number alone. This may partlybe due to constraintsof space, as also may the regrettable absence of an index. None the less, Dr Lecka must be congratulatedon a monographthatisbound to become a fundamentalsource for the furtherstudyof Belarusianliteraturein the nineteenth century. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ARNOLD MCMILLIN University College London Knapp, L. and Mandelker, A. (eds). Approaches to TeachingTolstoy'sAnna Karenina'. Approaches to Teaching World Literature. The Modern LanguageAssociationofAmerica,New York,2003. ix + 226 pp. Illustrations . Figures.Tables. Notes. Bibliography.Index. $I8.50 (paperback). THIScollection of essays is the latest in a serieswhose stated aim is 'to collect [.. .] differentpoints of view on teaching a specificliterarywork [... .] widely taught at undergraduate level' (p. vii). The volume consists of twenty-six essayswritten by leading American specialistsin Russian literature,and was prepared by 'solicitingresponsesto a questionnairefrom facultymembers at various [North American] institutions'(p. ix). Since this questionnaireplayed such a significantpart in the book's genesis it is a pity that it was not included as an appendix.An introductorysection, containingessaysby the editorsAmy Mandelker and Liza Knapp, is followed by a valuable and informative 'materials'section, with essayson Russian editionsand Englishtranslationsof the novel (Knapp), and on recommended readings(Mandelker).The articles in the main partof the volume cover a wide range of topics. WilliamM. Todd III examines the teaching of the novel through the history of its serial publications. Gary Saul Morson explores how the novel's ideas, in particular those arisingfrom the chapters devoted to Levin as landowner, can be most fruitfullyconveyed to the student, thereby making sense of the whole. Gary R. Jahn discussesAnnaKarenina in the light of Tolstoi's crisis. Harriet Murav looks at the legal questions arising from the novel. We then move on to chapters on sexuality and the woman question (Helena Goscilo), agrarian issues(MaryHelen Kashuba and Manucher Dareshuri),'Tolstoy'sAntiphilosophical Philosophy' (Donna Orwin), the perennial issue of 'Tolstoy versus Dostoevsky' (Caryl Emerson), AnnaKarenina as a 'novel of adultery' (Judith Armstrong), the act, and art, of reading the novel (David A. Sloane), the relationshipbetween the novel and various theatricalgenres, such as opera, tragedy and farce (Julie A. Buckler), and the work's concluding part eight 722 SEER, 82, 3, 2004 (Svetlana Evdokimova). The chapters in the final sub-section ('Classroom Approaches to AnnaKarenina') focus on the novel's opening (Kate Holland), a close reading of Anna's return journey to St Petersburg (Robert Louis Jackson),Anna'sdreams(ThomasBarran),moraleducation (GinaKovarsky), aesthetic vision (Justin Weir), interpretations of the novel through film (Andrea Lanoux), the use of reader-responsejournals in teaching the novel (Jason Merrill),the explorationofAnnaKarenina throughthe creationof 'mind maps', including two fascinatingexamples of such maps (MaryLaurita),and, finally,a discussionof Tolstoi's'labyrinthof linkages'(LizaKnapp). So many points of view, so many different voices. Heterogeneity in a volume of this sortcan cut both ways of course.It can lead to an impressionof arbitrarinessand lackof overallcoordination. But it can also lend the whole a ratheradventurous, exploratoryfeel. There is much to stimulatethe interest here and, in the main body of the volume at least, there is hardly a chapter that does not have something worthwhile to contribute. The essaysby Todd, Morson, Emerson, Evdokimova, Jackson, and Laurita are particularly rewardingin this respect. The vast majorityof essaysconcentrate on the text, treating Tolstoi himself uncritically.A notable exception is Helena Goscilo's challenging essay which, despite its daunting title ('Motif-Mesh as Matrix: Body, Sexuality, Adultery, and the Woman Question'), strikes like an invigorating cold shower. Her final comment is Lawrentian in its defiant iconoclasm: 'In questions of gender AnnaKarenina combines structuralrigor with conceptual rigor mortis' (p. 89). In some ways...