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Lecturer(s)
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Pavlišová Jitka, Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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Modernity is a key concept in literary and cultural studies. It refers both to a distinct historical period, roughly from the sixteenth century to the present day, and to a specific quality of cultural and social experience. Typically modern innovations - such as the ideological concept of the individual, the economic principle of the market, the political principle of the nation state, the technological mediatisation of communication, or the literary genre of the novel - have served to shape the fundamental framework of our contemporary world. Modernity is a highly dynamic construct that is subject to constant renewal and transformation: in other words, it is characterised by perpetual self-modernisation. However, whilst most theories construct modernity as a phenomenon that originated in Europe and was only later 'exported' to other parts of the world, this course helps to conceptualise modernity as the result of global exchange and interaction, and thus considers it in its extensive, pluralistic form. Modern societies, cultures and individual artistic expressions within the performing arts, particularly from the first half of the 20th century, will be examined in this course primarily through the following lenses: - nation-states and national cultures - commodification - secularity - the media revolution - individualism - market economy - the autonomisation of art - coloniality - dynamic social and gender roles - the aestheticisation of everyday life - the distinction between the private and public spheres - rationalisation - the rise and fall of the author/genius - the translation of cultures - social and geographical mobility - flexible literary genres - urbanisation - governmentality - cultural transfer and transformation - gender issues - the ever-changing self-conception of modernisation and a preference for novelty - the technical reproduction of works of art - popular cultures - the invention of traditions - counter-cultures - migration and diasporas - pirate cultures - a renewed interest in the past. In terms of content, we shall draw upon the Eurocentric canon of 'theatre reforms' from the first half of the 20th century, its key figures and theatre companies, for which we shall subsequently develop a specific concept of their 'counter-proposal'.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Group work
- Attendace
- 25 hours per semester
- Homework for Teaching
- 50 hours per semester
- Preparation for the Course Credit
- 25 hours per semester
- Preparation for the Exam
- 25 hours per semester
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Learning outcomes
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The aim of the course is to present a contemporary historiographical approach to the developmental tendencies and stylistic changes of world theatre in the first half of the 20th century (artistic modernism and avant-garde). The emphasis will be on tracing the continuity of stylistic changes that also influenced theatre culture during the so-called neo-avant-garde and its diversification. Students will gain a thorough overview of the developmental changes in the performing arts, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, while being able to consistently contextualize and conceptualize one of the key aspects of humanities studies - modernity, the mechanisms of its construction, deconstruction and reconstruction, and the concepts associated with it. Thus, the purpose of the course is not simply to present the established anchoring of this epistemological category in the history of humanity and individual cultures, but rather to fundamentally rethink and revise it through the previously marginalized, peripheral entities and identities that nevertheless naturally co-constituted the concept of modernity.
Students will gain a thorough overview of the developmental changes in the performing arts, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, while being able to consistently contextualize and conceptualize one of the key aspects of humanities studies - modernity, the mechanisms of its construction, deconstruction and reconstruction, and the concepts associated with it. Thus, the purpose of the course is not simply to present the established anchoring of this epistemological category in the history of humanity and individual cultures, but rather to fundamentally rethink and revise it through the previously marginalized, peripheral entities and identities that nevertheless naturally co-constituted the concept of modernity.
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Prerequisites
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There are no prerequisites for the course.
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Oral exam, Student performance, Analysis of linguistic, Final project
For students assigned the MOD code, the following is a requirement for successful completion of this course: Attendance at the individual meetings, active participation in the discussion in the seminar part of the course, oral examination at the end of the semester. For learners assigned SSD3 code, the following is a requirement for successful completion of this course: Attendance at individual meetings, active participation in the discussion in the seminar part of the course, elaboration and presentation of one of the "counter-proposals" of the existing canon of artistic developments of the first half of the 20th century.
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Recommended literature
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Brandstetter, Gabriele. (2015). Poetics of Dance. Oxford.
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Elswit Kate. (2014). Watching Weimar Dance. Oxford.
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Ferguson Harvie. (2000). Modernity and Subjectivity.
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Hyvnar, J. (1996). Francouzská divadelní reforma. Praha.
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Hyvnar, J. (2000). Herec v moderním divadle. Praha.
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Men-nemeier Franz Norbert and Fischer-Lichte, Erika. (1994). Drama und Theater der Europäischen Avant-Garde. Tübingen & Basel.
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Sloterdijk Peter. (2025). The Terrible Children of Modernity.
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