Lecturer(s)
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Vít Ladislav, PhDr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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Introduction (What is literary theory? What is its use? What is 'meaning'?). Beginnings (Aristotle, Plato). New Criticism and Russian Formalism (T.S. Eliot, C. Brooks, R.P. Warren, V. Shklovsky, V. Propp). Structuralism (R. Jakobson, Claude Lévi-Strauss, F. De Saussure). Postructuralism, Deconstruction (R. Barthes, J. Derrida, J. H. Miller). Post-coloniality and Ethnic Studies (E. Said, H. Bhabha). Feminism (H. Cixous, L. Mulvey). New Historicism (A. Sinfield). Reader-Response Theory, Phenomenology, Reception Theory (W. Iser). Psychoanalysis (S. Freud, J. Lacan).
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book)
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Learning outcomes
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The course aims to provide students with the skills to use various literary-theoretical approaches for the interpretation of a literary text. In the introduction the seminars will open space for the discussion of basic concepts, such as "meaning", "text", "interpretation". The body of the course will focus on the 20th century theoretical approaches. Seminars take the form of discussions of individual critical schools (Structuralism, New Criticism, Russian Formalism, Postcoloniality and Ethnic Studies, Feminism, New Historicism, Psychoanalysis, aj.). This knowledge is simultaneously applied to primary text (C. Brontë: Jane Eyre) for the sake of an illustrative interpretation. This approach to literary theory enables students to realize the interpretative potential of individual theoretical schools and the variety with which one text can be read. At the same time, students expand their practical critical and interpretative skills, which is a necessary aspect of their further and independent research. topics by week: 1. - text, meaning, interpretation, literary-theoretical tendencies 2.-3. - Structuralism 4.-5. - Formalism, narratology and New Criticism 6.-7. - Feminism 8.-9. - Marxist theory 10.-11. - Postcolonial theory 12.- 13. New Historicism
Students will acquire socio-cultural, textual and analytical competence. Students will be able to interpret literary text through the prism of a chosen theoretical perspective.
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Written examination
1) Active participation is required (3 missed classes max.). That is, the students are expected to contribute to the class discussion, raise comments and ask questions related to the topics and texts. 2) 1 presentation on an assigned topic (presentation of one theoretical school) 3) Assignment - students need to choose one British or American literary work (novel, play, poem/s) and analyze it from one of the theoretical perspectives. Topics must be discussed with the lecturer during the term office hours. Formal requirements: 1000 words, typed, A4, double spaced, declaration of authorship
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Recommended literature
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BALDICK, C. Criticism and Literary Theory 1890 to the Present. London; New York: Longman, 1996.
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BRONTE, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. London: Penguin books, 2006.
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CULLERS, J. Krátký úvod do literární teorie. Brno: Host, 2002.
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EAGLETON, T. Literary Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed.. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
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GUERIN, W. L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: OUP, 1998.
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MACEY, D. The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. London: Penguin Books, 2001.
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PEPRNÍK, M. Směry literární interpretace XX. století (texty a komentáře. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 2004.
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