LMKB_a446 Cultural pessimism: the alienated man in 20th century art and literature

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Veronika Králová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Petr Bubeníček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Petr Bubeníček, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Veronika Bromová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
-
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 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The term cultural pessimism has no clear definition, yet it can be used to describe tendencies that are critical to one's own present and glorify the past. These tendencies affect a whole spectrum of phenomena (e.g. morality), but in the context of the course they will be examined only in the frame of visual arts and literature. Emphasis will be placed on the German context in which cultural pessimism played a significant role. However, the overlap with the Czech context, in which the term cultural pessimism is less present, will also be important, as this does not exclude its actual presence in works of art.
Learning outcomes
The course provides students with an orientation to the various motives of cultural pessimism so that they are able to identify and describe them on their own on a subject of interest.
Syllabus
  • Cultural pessimism will be traced primarily through debates on abstract art of the 1950s. The main focus will be on art historians, philosophers and writers such as Werner Hofmann, Hans Sedlmayr, Werner Haftmann, Arnold Gehlen, Hannah Arendt, Radka Denemarková and Karel Čapek.
Literature
    required literature
  • Christian Marty, Hans-Peter Müller, Barbara Thériault (Hg.) Kulturkritik im Namen der Freiheit Von Georg Simmel bis Hannah Arendt. Bielefeld 2023.
  • BOLLENBECK, Georg. Eine Geschichte der Kulturkritik : von J. J. Rousseau bis G. Anders. Originalausg. München: C.H. Beck, 2007, 318 s. ISBN 9783406547966. info
    not specified
  • Das Geistige in der Kunst: abstrakte Malerei 1890–1985, eds. Maurice Tuchman, Judi Freeman, Carel Blotkamp, Stuttgart 1988.
  • Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta: Toward a Geography of Art, Chicago 2004.
  • Sebastian Baden, Christian Bauer, Daniel Hornuff (Hg.) Formen der Kulturkritik. München 2018.
  • Gehlen, Arnold: Zeit-Bilder: zur Soziologie und Ästhetik der modernen Malerei, Frankfurt am Main 1986.
Teaching methods
class discussion
Assessment methods
essay, oral examination
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 0.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/LMKB_a446