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Lecturer(s)
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Polách Vladimír, Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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- Week 1: Introduction to the topic of exile and research methods The seminar defines key terms (emigration vs. exile, acculturation, bilingualism) and demonstrates methods for working with exile databases and archives. - Week 2: 19th-century diaspora migration and the language issue This module examines the causes of mass emigration to the USA and to minority enclaves, and explores the struggle to preserve the mother tongue through the education system and readers. It compares the reality of diaspora life in the USA with the portrayal of emigration in domestic cultural and media production. - Week 3: The diaspora press and major publishers in the USA An analysis of the communication network surrounding diaspora publications, using the examples of August Geringer's Chicago-based enterprise and Jan Rosický's Omaha-based publishing house. - Week 4: The period 1914-1938 and the 'First Liberation Movement' This topic examines the role of overseas compatriots in the establishment of Czechoslovakia and the changes in interwar migration patterns following the introduction of US immigration quotas. - Week 5: The Second World War and destruction An examination of the wave-like nature of wartime exile, the destruction of book collections, and specific forms of military or camp publications. The work and fates of E. Hostovský, A. Hoffmeister and V+W, and their involvement in BBC and Voice of America radio broadcasts. - Week 6: Post-February exile (1948-1968) and life in camps An analysis of the specific nature of 'political' emigration, the reality of life in German and Austrian refugee camps, and its reflection in exile essays. - Week 7: The emergence of the exile publishing scene in the 1950s and 1960s This topic presents key institutions (RSE, SVU, Svědectví) and examines the functioning of Vlach's Sklizeň as well as subscription-based economic models. - Week 8: Post-August exile (1968-1989) and the 'Asanace' campaign The seminar examines the mass exodus following 1968, the state-instigated expulsion of Charter 77 signatories, and official Communist propaganda directed against the exile community. - Week 9: The Golden Age of Exile Publishing Houses and Links to Samizdat An analysis of the publishing practices of 68 Publishers, Index and PmD, and an examination of the exile prose of selected writers. - Week 10: Case Study: J. Škvorecký - Week 11: Returns, remigration and reflections on exile after 1989 The final module focuses on post-revolutionary misunderstandings between domestic society and returnees, as well as the Cibulka lists affair and the book *Osočení*. - Week 12: Assessment test, evaluation
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Group work
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Learning outcomes
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The aim of the course is to present emigration and exile from the Czech lands and Czechoslovakia in the 19th and 20th centuries (1848-1889) as a complex cultural, social and historical phenomenon. The course examines exile not merely as a sub-chapter of literary history, but from the perspectives of book and media studies, sociology and cultural studies. Particular emphasis is placed on the mechanisms underpinning the functioning of exile book culture (the specific characteristics of the 'book circuit' as defined by R. Darnton in the context of exile: creation, production, funding, distribution, reception and preservation of texts), on shifts in ethnic and national identity, linguistic bilingualism, and on the conflict between official, samizdat and exile cultures. The course also examines the phenomena of re-emigration and repatriation, as well as the challenging process associated with the return of exiled authors and their works to their home context after 1989.
Graduate: Analytically interprets selected literary, memoir and journalistic works originating from exile, in the context of the period in which they were written and the author's historical and biographical background. Applies the model of a book's communication network to the specific conditions of the exile publishing market (analysis of economic models, e.g. the subscription system, production specifics, and overcoming censorship and distribution barriers). It critically evaluates the ideological discourses and narratives of the period (e.g. stereotypes about 'renegades', 'treacherous emigration' or the 'withered branch of the nation') in comparison with actual historical sources. It integrates insights from the history of literature, book culture, history, sociology and political science.
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Seminar Work, Written exam
- active participation (two absences permitted); active = focusing on the topic, not on social media on your mobile phone or other online activities unrelated to the course; - completion of the assigned task (analysis of the overarching topic; an overview of a selected publisher, or where applicable, a title or periodical) - to be updated for each semester; - final written test (in the form of an online test on Moodle or another LMS platform)
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Recommended literature
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Čapek Tomáš. Naše Amerika. Praha. 1926.
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Čulík, Jan. (1991). Knihy za ohradou. Česká literatura v exilových nakladatelstvích 1971-1989. Praha.
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Papoušek, Vladimír. Česká literatura v Chicagu. 2001.
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Přibáň, M. - Gruntorád, J. - Formanová, L. Exilová periodika. 1999.
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Přibáň, Michal. Prvních dvacet let : kulturní rada a další kapitoly z dějin literárního exilu 1948-1968. 2008.
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Sládek, J. V. Americké obrázky.
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Zach, A. (1995). Kniha a český exil. Praha.
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