ZUR393n The Western Film

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2016
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Jean Paule Retzinger, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Pavel Sedláček (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Pavelka, CSc.
Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Bc. Pavlína Brabcová
Supplier department: Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
each odd Thursday 15:15–16:45 Studio 527 and each even Thursday 15:15–16:45 AVC
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 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
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
This course follows a roughly historical approach to the Western as a distinctive film genre, exploring its roots in relationship to the frontier myth in American culture and tracing its development within the US and abroad. The class will examine the defining characteristics of the genre and key themes worked out in Westerns, from early films to more recent “revisionist” US Westerns. We will also investigate what happens to the Western when it is produced outside of the US in nations that don't share a similar history of frontier expansion fostered by an ideology of “manifest destiny.” Non-U.S. films will include Leone´s “spaghetti Westerns” of Italy, the Indian ("Bollywood") “curry western” Sholay (1975), and Lipský´s Western parody Limonádový Joe (1964) from the Czech Republic.
Syllabus
  • CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNED READINGS. DATE, TOPIC and Readings: 18 February - Intro to the course. 25 February - The Frontier Myth; Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in America, Chs. I and IX; Will Wright, "The Structure of Myth" from Six-Guns and Society. Film scenes: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. 3 March - Genre 1; Will Wright, "The Structure of the Western Film" pp. 29-58 from SGS. Film scenes: High Noon, Stagecoach. 10 March - Genre 2; Will Wright, "The Structure of the Western Film" pp. 59-123 from SGS. Film scenes: Searchers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 17 March - Gender; Jane Tompkins, "Women and the Language of Men" from West of Everything. Pam Cook, "Women and the Western" in Kitses and Rickman Blake Lucas, "Saloon Girls and Ranchers´ Daughters" in Kitses and Rickman. Film scenes: High Noon, Red River, 3:10 to Yuma. 24 March - Landscape; Jane Tompkins, "Landscape". Thomas Klein, "Where the Wild West Can Be Staged" in Klein et al. Film scenes: Stagecoach, True Grit. 31 March - Heroes &Villians / Cowboys & Indians / Cattle & Horses; Will Wright, "Individuals and Values: The Classical Plot". Tompkins, "Horses" and "Cattle". Film scenes: Red River, Shane, Dances with Wolves. 7 April - Revisionist US Westerns I; Janet Thumim, "'Maybe He´s Tough...': Masculinity and In/competence in Unforgiven" in Kitses and Rickman. Film: Unforgiven. 14 April - Revisionist US Westerns II; Reading: TBA. Film: Brokeback Mountain or No Country for Old Men or The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford / 2007. 21 April - The Western Abroad I / The Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone Edward Buscombe, "Is the Western about American History?" in Klein et al. Marcia Landy, "'He Went Thataway': The Form and Style of Leone´s Italian Westerns" in Kitses and Rickman. Film: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 28 April - The Western Abroad II / Asia; Cho, Michelle. "Genre, Translation, and Transnational Cinema: Kim; Jee-woon´s The Good, the Bad, the Weird". Film: Sholay. 5 May - The Western Abroad III / Parody; Karje, Antti-Ville, "The Joking Injuns". Film: Limonadovy Joe. 12 May - Wrap-up and In-class FINAL EXAM.
Assessment methods
Assigned readings will all be available as .PDFs on the course website. The syllabus contains a complete list of course readings. Students will be expected to come to class each week having already completed the readings assigned for that week and prepared to participate in class discussions. Students will also be required to view some films on their own in advance of class meetings. Writing assignments for the course include FIVE 1-2 page Reading Response papers during the semester. These response papers may be used to discuss and analyze either a key concept/argument from an assigned reading or a specific film scene. Please see separate assignment prompt detailing the expectations for the response papers. The response papers are due are the start of class on those dates followed by an asterisk on the syllabus. Additionally there will be a final exam given in class on the last day. FINAL GRADES for the course will be calculated as follows: FIVE Reading Response papers @ 10 percent each 50, Exam 30, Attendance and Participation 20.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
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