# Russian Literature

**Source**: https://english.spbu.ru/admission/programms/graduate/russian-literature
**Parent**: https://english.spbu.ru/admission/programms/graduate

45.04.01 
*In Russian*

Level of education Master

Type of instruction Full-time

Duration 2 years

Programme description

The master’s programme "Russian Literature" organically combines theoretical, applied and historical-literary courses, a significant part of which has no analogues in the domestic system of philological education. Students study the main issues in the study of folklore, and the history and theory of literature. They also master alternative approaches to their research, methods of scientific analysis, and skills of independent practice in various fields of literature and folklore studies.

Main courses

- Concepts of Modern Literary Theory
- Fundamentals of Comparative Studies
- Palaeography and Textual Criticism
- Poetics of Old Russian Literature
- Development of Russian Literature: 11th–20th Centuries
- Text Semiotics
- Modern Russian Literature
- Textual Criticism of Modern Russian Literature
- Theory and Practice of Scholarly Commentary
- Theory of Literary Process
- Narratology
- History and Methods of Folklore Studies
- Methods of Field Research
- Fundamentals of Analysis of Traditional Text
- Semantics and Pragmatics of Folklore
- Folklore and Ritual in the Culture of Modern and Contemporary History

Our advantages

- Organic combination and complementarity of theoretical, applied and historical-literary courses as such, a significant part of which has no analogues in the domestic system of philological education;
- Access to the media library on folklore, folk culture and folklore archive of St Petersburg University;
- The scientific and pedagogical staff of the programme implement interesting research projects. These include: ‘Historical and Typological Description of the Russian Verse’; ‘Development of the Theory of Narrative Models of Narrative Structures: the Fundamental Problems of Modern Narratology’; the creation of an electronic anthology ‘Russian Literature of the 18th Century; compilation of N. S. Leskov's writings in 30 volumes and scientific; and the educational electronic resource ‘Folklore and Traditional Culture’.

Main areas of research

- History of Russian literature in the 11th – 21st centuries
- Literary Theory
- Folklore studies and mythology

Сareer opportunities

Types of professional activity:

- Teaching at schools and universities
- Research activities at the institutes of the Academy of Sciences, libraries, archives, literary museums, publishing houses, and journals

##### Professions

Teacher of professional training, vocational education, and lifelong professional education and training

Specialist in R&D organisation and management

Printed media employee

Broadcasting media employee

Media editor

TV presenter

[This webpage may contain outdated information. The programme descriptions and admission requirements for the 2026/2027 academic year are currently being updated. For the latest information on 2026/2027 admission, please visit the Admissions Office website.](https://abiturient.spbu.ru/en/)

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