Empress Catherine II undertook her “Taurian Voyage” (1787) to visit Crimea and New Russia, two provinces that the Russian Empire had recently acquired from the Ottoman Turks in the settlement of the Russo-Turkish War (1768-74). Upon her arrival in Crimea, the Empress proclaimed it a “fairy tale from The Thousand and One Nights.” In referencing this famous collection of “Oriental” fairy tales, Catherine drew on a long-standing habit in Russia of depicting their Muslim neighbors, and subjects as exotic characters from stories and fables — as Orientalized Others — and more often than not, enemies. This course will examine texts spanning more than a thousand years of Russian and Eurasian history, to examine the figure of the “Muslim” in the Russian imaginary. In so doing, we will gain a sense for the ever-changing relations between Christian and Muslim communities in Eurasia through the lens of their interactions in literature.

Offered Spring 2026.