The death of Stalin created a new social and literary climate in Russia and the Soviet Union. Although "socialist realism" remained the officially mandated literary style, writers began to explore new themes and artistic techniques. While the doctrine of Socialist Realist literature had focused on idealized heroes and their attempt to build a communist paradise, the literature of the post-Stalinist era explored the lives and minds of a different kind of hero. After the "thaw," the focus of literature shifted from the attempt of heroes to build the perfect society, to the attempt of the individual to survive in a society that is either hostile or indifferent to his or her spiritual, emotional and artistic needs. From prisoners of the Gulag to alienated youth, from orphans to alcoholics, who converse with angels, the characters in the works we will read inhabit the fringes of Soviet society. Yet while much of the writing deals with characters who are considered sick by society, each work leads us to question as to whether or not it is (the) society that is really sick. One of the major questions to be discussed in the course is whether or not the word "the" belongs in my previous sentence. That is to say, are the works anti-Soviet or simply anti-social? Take this course, read the works, and decide for yourself.