CWL11 Comparative Literary Studies and World Literature

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024

The course is not taught in Autumn 2024

Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc.
Department of Slavonic Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc.
Supplier department: Department of Slavonic Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
knowledge of English due to CEFR: B1-B2
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course has an elementary position in the whole study programme, it is a sort of an introduction to the study of world comparative literature. The first part of the course consists of the introduction to comparative literary studies, its methodology and world literature or world literary canon as one of its products. The comparison of several hierarchic levels from single works, authors, literary currents, kinds of poetics and national literatures as such up to comparative literature (littérature comparée), general literature, related literatures and world literature or world literatures become the methodological and terminological basis of the study of world literature the concepts of which are sometimes defined as additional, axiological, representative and synthetic. The historical image of world literature is conceived as a chain of the interrupted continuity of cultural epochs and currents, such as Antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism etc. differentiated according to specific features of each cultural area (West Europe, the Mediterranean, The Balkans, East Europe, Central Europe etc., the areas outside Europe, the transcendence of European tradition to other continents, the formation of Euro-American cultural entity). The kernel of the concept is associated with the axiological classification of literary artefacts on the level of modern genre theory and history. The world literature as a synthesis of general features of literature is compared with "world literature" as a complex of leading national literatures which seem to be the most frequent donators of poetic impulses.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
- identify and summarize the most important features of comparative literary studies, its development, the most influential methods, the major periods in the history of world literature, the dominant literary currents and their relation to the development of arts in general;
- read basic literary artefacts in the original;
- compare and contrast the differences between single national literatures and cultural areas both in and outside Europe;
- apply principles of literary comparative studies to a phenomenon of world literature;
- demonstrate the axiological potentials of literary artefacts;
- write an essay analyzing various literary phenomena on comparative basis.
Syllabus
  • 1) Outline of the History of Comparative Literary Studies
  • 2) Genetic and Typological Comparative Studies
  • 3) Comparative Literary Studies and Aesthetic Axiology
  • 4) World Literary Canon as a Product of Comparative Literature
  • 5) National Literatures, Related Literature, General Literature, World Literatures, World Literature
  • 6) World Literary Canon
  • 7) Cultural and Literary Epochs in European Development
  • 8) Transcendence of European Literatures to Other Continents
  • 9) The Formation of Euro-American Literature Complex
  • 10) The Problem of Eurocentrism and World Literature
Literature
    required literature
  • Comparative Literature for the New Century. Eds: G. de Gasperi, J. Pivato. McGill'-Queen's Universuty Press 2018.
  • Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies. Ed. Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek and Tutun Mukherjee. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press 2013.
    recommended literature
  • Comparative literary studies : essays presented to György Mihály Vajda on his seventieth birthday (Přid.) : Essays presented to György Mihály Vajda on his seventieth birthday. info
  • Arthur H. Bell, Vincent F. Hopper, Bernard D. N. Grebanier: World Literature: 1800 to the Present (College Review Series). Barrons Educationa Series 1994.
  • ZELENKA, Miloš. Comparative Literature and Area Studies. České Budějovice: Nakladatelství Vlastimil Johanus, 2012.
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. The Permanent Crisis, Or Can, Could or Should Comparative Literary Studies Survive? Between History, Theory and Area Studies. World Literature Studies. 2009, vol. 1, No 18, p. 50-61. ISSN 1337-9690. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Comparative Literary Studies, Central-European Cultural Space, and Theory of Literary History. Primerjalna književnost. Ljubljana: Društvo za primerjalno književnost SR Slovenije, 2008, vol. 31, No 2, p. 137-148. ISSN 0351-1189. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. The Problem of Value and Equality in Comparative Literary Studies: the Past and the Present (Some Comments on the Conception of "Area Value"). 1st ed. Warszawa: Elipsa, 2007, 200 pp. The Horizons of Contemporary Slavic Comparative. ISBN 978-83-7151-779-2. info
Teaching methods
The planned forms of teaching activities: lecture with presentation; seminar presentations of seminar essays with a following discussion; class discussions concerning obligatory reading homeworks: analyses of select reading.
Assessment methods
essay presentation; two written tests with 20 questions, 20 points maximum, successful result 15 points; final oral exam
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
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