The research traditions and the main directions of the pedagogical activity of the department known as the Department of the History of Russian and Foreign Literature until September 2007 have been formed over many decades. It is the oldest department of the Faculty of Philology, as its establishment dates back to 1935, when the Department of Language and Literature was founded at Kazakh State University. In 2011, the department was reorganized into the Department of Russian Philology, Russian and World Literature through  mergering three departments of the Faculty of Philology: Russian and World Literature, Russian Philology, and the Russian Language. Possessing substantial research, academic, pedagogical, and methodological experience, these departments had occupied one of the key positions in the history of the development of philological science for many years. At different periods, the department was headed by  the leading scholars. In 2015, the department was reorganized into the Department of Russian Philology and World Literature.

Since 2025, the department has been headed by PhD, Associate Professor Alyona Sergeyevna Demchenko.