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Lecturer(s)
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Course content
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Defining identity Family issues and identity: John Cheever's "The Swimmer" Identity in confessional poetry: selected poems - Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Michael S. Harper, etc. Dystopia and crab mentality: Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" Masculinity and identity crisis: T. C. Boyle - "Greasy Lake" Afro-American identities: James Baldwin - "Sonny's Blues" Black masculinity: Suzan-Lori Parks - Topdog/Underdog (play) Jewish American identity: Bernard Malamud - "The Magic Barrel" Native American identity - oral tradition: Leslie Marmon Silko - "Yellow Woman" Generation identities: M. H. Kingston - "No Name Woman" or another text from The Woman Warrior Identity & postmodernism in drama: Ira Levin - Deathtrap (play) Identity, violence and postmodernism in prose: Joyce Carol Oates - "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" etc. literary texts and other materials available in Moodle
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book)
- Participation in classes
- 26 hours per semester
- Home preparation for classes
- 30 hours per semester
- Preparation for a credit (assessment)
- 35 hours per semester
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Learning outcomes
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This course is designed to introduce/extend the knowledge of American literature of the second half of the 20th century with an emphasis on identity formation. Furthermore, the course broadens the knowledge gained in the Cultural Studies course. The course introduces the conceptions of identities and their transformation from the postwar to the present times. Examples from various texts are used to provide an overview of the representation and transformation of identities, particularly in terms of theme and genre. Due to the nature of the course, it is recommended for students having completed the BKSA course.
The course broadens students' theoretical knowledge and their ability to critically analyse fiction, essays and films. The aim of the course is that students will gain an overview of different forms of identities in a relevant historical and cultural context and will be able to think about them independently.
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Written examination, Work-related product analysis
Contact lessons: - mandatory attendance (3 absences tolerated) - students must carefully read the seminar texts (reading primary and secondary sources) - ACTIVE participation during seminars and discussions - submitting Moodle tasks in time - Credit assignment: written Distance learning: - seminars take place in real time according to the schedule, via MS Teams platform - students must carefully read the seminar texts prior to the seminar (available in Moodle) and be prepared for their discussion - participation in online seminars is the same as in contact lessons (incl. ACTIVE participation in discussions) - Credit assignment: written more details in Moodle
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Recommended literature
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Cunliffe, Marcus . American literature since 1900. London: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-017759-0.
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Goodman, Lizbeth. Literature and Gender. London: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 9780415135733.
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Hogan, Patrick Colm. American Literature and American Identity : A Cognitive Cultural Study from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century. New York NY: Routledge, 2022. ISBN 9781000470925.
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Cheung, King-Kok. An interethnic companion to Asian American literature. New York: USA, 1997. ISBN 0-521-44312-1.
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Jařab, Josef. Po cestách z neviditelnosti: eseje o afroamerické literatuře a kultuře. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2016. ISBN 978-80-244-5019-3.
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Lauter, Paul. A companion to American literature and culture. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. ISBN 978-0-631-20892-1.
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Nicholson, Linda J. Identity before identity politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-521-86213-4.
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