AJ28081 The Rise and Fall of the Australian Period Film

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2000
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Jitka Vlčková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Dr. Ardi Wimmer (lecturer), PhDr. Jitka Vlčková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 10 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/10, only registered: 0/10, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/10
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Syllabus
  • The most important film genre within the so-called "Renaissance of the Australian Film Industry" in the 1970s was the period film. As it so happens, many period films were based on literary texts, which permits us a comparative view onto two "texts" - that of the printed page, and that of the movie screen.
  • AIMS AND PURPOSES: To acquire insights into aspects of Australian history, including that of Aborigines, of Australian society and culture; to analyse and discuss the (dis)similarities between narrative and cineastic modes of representation; and to look for that elusive "Australian identity" - or rather, for ways in which an Australian identity has been invented, imagined or constructed. Contrasting such constructs of national identity with issues of multiclturality and gender blending in movies of the 90s will be the task of the second half of the course.
  • Some of the questions raised and issues discussed will be:
  • Why should students of English study Australian Film? Are films aesthetically inferior to fiction? In other words, can we justifyably maintain the view that fiction is "high" art, whereas the movies are mere entertainment?
  • My Brilliant Career as a female 'Bildungsroman.' What are the characteristics of a 'Bildungsroman' and which aspects do we find in the novel, the film adaptation?
  • Picnic At Hanging Rock as an arthouse movie. Or is it a social documentary? How are aspects of 'Australianness' constructed in the novel and in the film? What does the reception of the film in Australia tell us about Australia at the time?
  • Issues of alternative sexual orientation in contemporary (Australian) society: cross-dressing, transvestism, transgenderism, gay and lesbian cultures. How does Priscilla approach these issues? Is a successful example for bringing these alternative cultures into the mainstream?
  • The representation of academic and student life in Love and Other Catastrophes. The film as a self-reflexive medium, i.e. as a film about films. Do we find aspects of 'third-wave" feminism here, or of postfeminism?
Literature
  • A complete list of literature will be provided at the beginning of the seminar
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Seminar; Assessment: 30% oral presentation of a selected problem (10-15 minutes), 30% active contributions in class, 40% researched and documented essay to be handed in after the course. Length: appr. 2500 words.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: April 3-8, 2000.
Credit evaluation note: 2 původní kredity.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2000/AJ28081