AJ25042 Alternative Auto/Biography

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2010
Extent and Intensity
0/2. 2 credit(s) (plus 3 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Mon 13:20–14:55 G31
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 14 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
In this course, students will read, analyze and interpret various auto/biographical literary texts whose authors, in one way or another, transgress the conventions of the genre and imaginatively (re)construct the tradition(s) of approaching the self. These texts, which cover various periods and contexts of literatures in English, may blend fact and fiction, the individual and collective, selves and others. Some of the subcategories of our interest will include life-writing, memoir, collective auto/biography, fictionate auto/biography, metabiography, pastoral auto/biography, ethno(auto)biography. Apart from their work in classroom, students will also be expected to participate actively in the conference on transgressive auto/biography which will be held in October 28-30 at our department, both as helping organizers and audience. The course is taught by Martina Horáková, with guest lectures by Stephen Hardy, Michael Kaylor and Kateřina Prajznerová.
Syllabus
  • Week 1, Sept 27 Introduction to auto/biography studies, course policies and assignments Dr. Martina Horáková
  • Week 2, Oct 4 Autobiography and Environmental Aspects: Emily Carr, from Klee Wyck (1941) and The Book of Small (1942), and Emma Bell Miles, from The Spirit of the Mountains (1905) Dr. Kateřina Prajznerová
  • Week 3, Oct 11 “New Genres, New Subjects: Women, Gender and Autobiography after 2000” Guest speaker: Prof. Sidonie Smith, University of Michigan, USA
  • Week 4, Oct 18 Autobiography and Feminist Geography: Kim Mahood, from Craft for a Dry Lake (2000) Dr. Martina Horáková
  • Week 5, Oct 25 Autobiography and Trauma/Confession: Janice Williamson, Cry Baby (1998) Guest lecture: Dr. Zuzanna Szatanik, University of Katowice, Poland
  • !Oct 28-30: students are required to attend the conference “Living Between the Lines: Transgressive (Auto)Biography as Genre and Method” students write a 2-page report on workshops/sessions they attended
  • Week 6, Nov 1 Edwardian Biography: Virginia Woolf, from Flush: A Biography (1933) Dr. Michael Kaylor
  • Week 7, Nov 8 Fictional Biographies and Biographical Fictions: Peter Ackroyd, from Dickens (1990) and The Great Fire of London (1982) Dr. Stephen Hardy
  • Week 8, Nov 15 Reading week, no class
  • Week 9, Nov 22 Biography and Travel Writing: William Bartram and Robyn Davidson, from Tracks (1980) Dr. Kateřina Prajznerová a Dr. Martina Horáková
  • Week 10, Nov 29 Biography and Postcolonial Aspects: Rita and Jackie Huggins, Auntie Rita (1994) Dr. Martina Horáková
  • Week 11, Dec 6 Biography, Colonialism and Environmental Poetic: Paul Carter, “Light Reading” from The Lie of the Land (1996) Dr. Stephen Hardy
  • Week 12, Dec 13 Conclusion and evaluation Dr. Martina Horáková
Assessment methods
class discussion, textual analysis, response papers, final essay
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2010/AJ25042