Course: Topics and themes in literature

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Course title Topics and themes in literature
Course code KBH/VS12M
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
Lecturer(s)
  • Komenda Petr, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. An Introduction to Literary Thematology. Basic Terminology 2. Establishing Internal Space. The Topos of the Room in Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" 3. At the Mercy of the Outside World. The Elements Within Us. Water and Fire. / Air and Earth. The Poetry of Jan Skácel 4. Descent into the Depths of Being. Julius Zeyer: The House by the Dying Star 5. The Search for the Sacred. The Ecstasy of Ascent. Jan Zahradníček and the collection *Jeřáby* 6. Spaces of the Sacred in the Czech Literary Landscape. Jan Čep: *The Face Beneath the Cobweb*; *Field Grass* 7. The Profanation and Demythologization of the Sacred. Vilém Mrštík: Santa Lucia 8. The Idyllization and Naturalization of the Theme. Karel Klostermann: From the World of Forest Solitudes 9. The Factory as a Topos in the Early 1950s: Bohumil Hrabal. 10. The Topologization of the Region. The Prose of Jan Balabán and the Poetry of Petr Hruška. 11-12. A Journey Through the Myslechovice Landscape of Jan Čep (preparatory seminar and guided tour of the literary landscape during an excursion to Čep's native region).

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture, Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
Learning outcomes
The seminar will focus on examining the interrelationships between time and space in literary works and their thematic structure, the complexity of which gives rise to specific themes (topoi), which in turn often become dominant features of the respective cultural periods and their transformations. We will examine the genesis of these themes as well as their transformations, which occur in tandem with the development of literary traditions in Czech literature. The fundamental oppositions on which we will focus are: internal / external; proximity / distance; home / foreignness; self / other; vertical / horizontal; ascent / descent; light / shadow. We will also pay attention to the interrelationships between periphery and center. Methodologically, we will draw on the works of the Tartu School of Semiotics, as well as French thematic criticism. We will draw inspiration from Czech literary scholars such as Vladimír Macura, Daniela Hodrová, and others. In terms of interpretation, we will focus on selected works of Czech poetry and prose.
An overview of the thematic areas of 19th-century Czech literature and, to a certain extent, 20th-century Czech literature; mastery of the comparative method and semiotic text analysis
Prerequisites
unspecified

Assessment methods and criteria
Student performance, Seminar Work

Attendance at seminars. A maximum of two absences. Active participation in discussions. Completion of a seminar paper.
Recommended literature
  • Antologie z literární tematologie (KB UPOL ? interní příručka určená k výuce studentů Katedry bohemistiky).
  • Bachelard, Gaston. (1997). Plamen svíce. Praha.
  • Bachelard, Gaston. (2009). Poetika prostoru. Praha.
  • Bachelard, Gaston. (2010). Poetika snění. Praha.
  • Bachelard, Gaston. (1997). Voda a sny. Esej o obraznosti hmoty.
  • Corbineau-Hoffmann, A. (2008). Úvod do komparatistiky. Praha.
  • Dubský, I. Domov a bezdomoví, Filosofický časopis 14, 1966, s. 181-197.
  • E. R. Curtius. Evropská literatura a latinský středověk, Praha 1998..
  • Eliade, Mircea. (2006). Posvátné a profánní. Praha.
  • Eliade, Mircea. (1998). Mýty, sny a mystéria. Praha.
  • Glanc, Tomáš (ed.). Exotika (výbor z prací tartuské školy) Host, Brno 2003.
  • Guillén, C. (2008). Mezi jednotou a růzností. Úvod do srovnávací literární vědy. Praha.
  • Heidegger, Martin. (1993). Básnicky bydlí člověk. Praha.
  • Heidegger, Martin. Polní cesta, Orientace 3, 1968, č. 4, s. 87-88.
  • Hodrová, D., Hrbata, Z., Kubínová, M., Macura, V., & Hodrová, D. (1997). Poetika míst: kapitoly z literární tematologie. Jinočany.
  • Hodrová, Daniela. (2006). Citlivé město (eseje z mytopoetiky). Praha.
  • Hodrová, Daniela. (1994). Místa s tajemstvím. Praha.
  • Hrbata, Zdeněk. Prostory, místa a jejich konfigurace v literárním díle. In: Na cestě ke smyslu. (Poetika literárního díla 20. století, sv. III). Torst, Praha 2005, s. 315-510.
  • Hrbata, Zdeněk. (1999). Romantismus a Čechy. Témata a symboly v literárních a kulturních souvislostech. Praha.
  • Lotman, Jurij Michajlovič. (1990). Štruktúra umeleckého textu. Bratislava.
  • Lotman, Jurij Michajlovič. (1994). Text a kultúra. Bratislava.
  • Norberg ? Schulz, Christian. (1994). Genius loci. K fenomenologii architektury. Praha.
  • Peprník, Michal. Topos lesa v americké literatuře.


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 (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: -