Course: Poetics of the Czech Novel

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Course title Poetics of the Czech Novel
Course code KBH/PCR20
Organizational form of instruction Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Hrabal Jiří, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
Topics and Seminar Texts: 1) Robert Musil: Zmatky chovance Törlesse (orig. 1906); Michail M. Bachtin: "Epos a román. O metodologii zkoumání románu." (orig. 1941) In: Román jako dialog. Prague 1980, pp. 7-39. 2) Ivan Olbracht: Žalář nejtemnější (1916); Felix Vodička: "Mezi poezií a prózou. K funkci veršovaného románu v žánrovém systému české literatury 19. století." (1968) In: Struktura vývoje. Prague 1998, pp. 483-512. 3) Jaroslav Hašek: Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války (1921-23) - read at least the first 15 chapters of the novel!; Jan Grossman: "Kapitoly o Jaroslavu Haškovi." (1948) In: Analýzy. Prague 1991, pp. 22-31. 4) Karel Čapek: Život a dílo skladatele Foltýna (1939); Jan Mukařovský: "Významová výstavba a kompoziční osnova epiky Karla Čapka." Slovo a slovesnost 5, 1939, No. 3, pp. 113-131. 5) Jiří Weil: Život s hvězdou (1949); Josef Hrabák: "K morfologii románu". Čtení o románu. Prague 1981, pp. 31-57. 6) Egon Hostovský: Dobročinný večírek (1958); Růžena Grebeníčková: "Román a skutečnost" (1988). In: O literatuře výpravné. Prague 2015, pp. 70-87. 7) Ludvík Vaculík: Sekyra (1966); Daniela Hodrová: "Sebereflexe ve vývoji románu." In: Hledání románu: kapitoly z historie a typologie žánru. Prague 1989, pp. 53-83. 8) Bohumil Hrabal: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (1973); Květoslav Chvatík: "Zamyšlení nad teorií románu." In: Od avantgardy k druhé moderně. Cestami filozofie a literatury. Prague 2004, pp. 159-179. 9) Ludvík Němec: Hra na slepo (1982); Vladimír Svatoň: "Ironie v románu: střet fantazie a myšlení." In: Román v souvislostech času. Prague 2009, pp. 141-161. 10) Milan Kundera: Totožnost (2024, French orig. completed 1996); Milan Kundera: Zneuznávané dědictví Cervantesovo. Brno 2005 (orig. 1985).

Learning activities and teaching methods
Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
Learning outcomes
The seminar is designed as an analytical platform for exploring the poetics of the Czech novel. The course work is based on discussions of student presentations, which critically confront selected fictional works with accompanying theoretical and literary-historical studies on the morphology of the novel.
The course will provide a basic overview of the processes in literature, art, philosophy and culture that formed czech novel in the first and second half of 20th century.
Prerequisites
ability of critical thinking, basic knowledge of tools of literary history and literary theory

Assessment methods and criteria
Student performance, Systematic Observation of Student

Active participation in seminar discussions, preparation of a presentation; reading of selected novels and academic literature.
Recommended literature
  • Bachtin, Michail M. (1980). Román jako dialog. Praha.
  • Broch, Herman. (2009). Román - mýtus - kýč. Praha.
  • Černý, Václav. (1969). Studie a eseje z moderní světové literatury. Praha.
  • Girard, René. (1998). Lež romantismu a pravda románu. Praha.
  • Grebeníčková, Růžena. (1995). Literatura a fiktivní světy. Praha.
  • Hodrová, Daniela. (1989). Hledání románu: kapitoly z historie a typologie žánru. Praha.
  • Kundera, Milan. Zneuznávané dědictví Cervantesovo, Atlantis, Brno 2005.
  • Lukács, Georg. (1967). Teorie románu. In Metafyzika tragédie. Praha.
  • McKeon, Michael (ed.). (2000). Theory of the Novel. A Historical Approach. London.
  • Robbe-Grillet, Alain. (1970). Za nový román. Praha.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2023) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2023) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2023) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -