AJ1302 British History, Culture and Literature II

Faculty of Education
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/3/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Barbora Kašpárková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Prerequisites
AJ1102 Practical Language 1B || AJ2102 Practical Language 1B
Mastery of the English language is a prerequisite for students to proficiently engage with assigned materials.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 12 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Students are introduced to history, literature and culture of Great Britain from the end of the 18th to the mid of 20th Century. The goal is to introduce important authors, literary movements, historical events and cultural context of the given period and analyze their interrelation. Students will understand how literary texts reflect historical events and cultural myths. They will learn to identify cultural values and interpret them with the purpose to enhance respect to otherness. Students will discuss the role of context, gender, race, and ethnicity in history and in forming of literary genres and topics.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student: • will be able to read and interpret literary texts in English in both the literary and historical context • will be able to grasp the interdependence of historical development and its reflection in the arts • will have produced a given number of essays throughout the semester • will have read assigned literary works of the period. Students will develop 21st-century skills with particular emphasis placed on the following: 1) creative thinking, problem-solving, critical thinking 2) intercultural awareness 3) communicative competence
Syllabus
  • 1. The Impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars on British Society Early Romantics: William Blake, Robert Burns 2. The Industrial Revolution and the Lake Poets and the Second Generation of Romantics: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lord Byron, P. B. Shelley, J. Keats 3. The Industrial Revolution and its Effects on the British Society The Gothic novel: Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Gaskell 4. Gender roles and the Victorian Values: Angel in the House, J. Austen (The Regency period 1811-1820), Ch. Brontë, E. Brontë (Victorian period) 5. Chartism and a social novel. Ch. Dickens, R. L. Stevenson 6. Social criticism in Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell 7. Social satire: W.M. Thackeray, O. Wilde 8. Naturalism and Social Darwinism: T. Hardy, W. S. Maugham 9. British Imperialism: J. Conrad and R. Kipling 10. World War I and the Retreat of British Empire: the War poets and Virginia Woolf 11. The period between wars and World War II: Orwell's dark vision of the future
Literature
    required literature
  • ALEXANDER, Michael. A history of English literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000, xii, 387. ISBN 0333672267. info
  • EAGLE, Dorothy. The Oxford illustrated literary guide to Great Britain and Ireland. Edited by Hilary Carnell - Meic Stephens. 2nd ed. / edited by Dorothy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, vi, 322 p. ISBN 0-19-212988-025. info
    recommended literature
  • The Oxford illustrated history of Britain. Edited by Kenneth O. Morgan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 683 stran. ISBN 9780199544752. info
  • SANDERS, Andrew. The short Oxford history of English literature. Third edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, vii, 756. ISBN 9780199263387. info
  • MARWICK, Arthur. British society since 1945. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books, 1990, vi, 430 p. ISBN 0-14-013817-599. info
  • STŘÍBRNÝ, Zdeněk. Dějiny anglické literatury. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1987, s. 421-837. info
Teaching methods
class discussion, group discussion, pair work, problem-based discussion, short presentations, reading
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment, active participation in the discussion; reading assigned historical and literary texts; writing short essays; student-led project; quizzes
Language of instruction
English
Study support
https://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=2830#section-0
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Note related to how often the course is taught: kombinované studium: výuka v blocích.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: kombinované studium: výuka v blocích.
Teacher's information
https://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=2830#section-0
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2025/AJ1302