CJA042 Czech Literature from the Beginnings to the 18th century I

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2004
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Hana Bočková, Dr. (lecturer)
Mgr. Vladimíra Maroušková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Michaela Soleiman pour Hashemi, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Marie Škarpová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jiří Kudrnáč, CSc.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Helena Bednářová
Timetable of Seminar Groups
CJA042/a: Thu 13:20–14:55 4, H. Bočková
CJA042/b: Thu 10:00–11:35 40, M. Škarpová
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
dr.Bočková: The seminar focuses on mapping the basic tendencies in the development of old literature in a wider context of the culture as a whole. It focuses on several genres (seen both from synchronic and diachronic perspective) and attempts to characterise the basic contours of thinking, aesthetic categories and genre system in each particular cultural epoch. The starting point for further reading, interpretation and discussion will be a seminar paper dealing with a chosen topic [e.g. old Czech legends (St. Prokop, St. Kateřina), old Czech chronicles (Kosmas' Chronicle, the so called Dalimil's Chronicle), Alexandreis, spiritual lyrics, love lyrics, verse satire of the Middle Ages, drama of the Middle Ages (Mastičkář), Tkadleček, etc.]. Other topics (from humanism to baroque) will be dealt with in Old Czech Literature II seminar in the spring semester.
doc. Horáková: The focus of the seminar lies in the characterisation of essential works of old Czech literature, based on work with representative text with which the students will be acquainted in advance. Comparison is often used as the mode of working with the texts (e.g. Alexandreis and Dalimil's Chronicle; love lyrics of Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque; the same for legends, satire and drama; religious writing of Štítný, Hus, Chelčický and Blahoslav; the poetry of Hasištejnský, Collinus, Campanus, Michna, Bridel, Kadlinský and Rosa). The character of the seminar is instrumental: in the introductory lessons the students are taught to read Gothic script; apart from forming a picture of the genre system, the students are also orientated in the so called problematic issues which relate also to the old-literature extracts used in high-school textbooks.
Mgr. Škarpová: In the seminar chosen texts will be read from old Czech literature and it will be attempted to interpret them, while taking into account different cultural and social contexts and a different system of aesthetic norms which form the basis of these textes. In the voyage across centuries we will mainly attempt at understanding common things and respecting differencies. Another impact should lay on the creation of students own, personal picture of Czech literature of the Middle Ages. The text will also serve as a material to meditate upon the notion of national literature, of literature as a co-creator of national consciousness and literature as a source of historical memory; the importance of author in interpretation; written and oral literature; literary development; continuity and discontinuity.
Syllabus
  • dr.Bočková: old literature and its characteristic features, artistic representation, theme, author and receiver; periodisation of old Czech literature, basic reference literature; legends, old Czech legends (St. Prokop, St. Kateřina), the genre of chronicle - the development of the genre; Kosmas' Chronicle, the so called Dalimil's Chronicle; Alexandreis in the European context; spiritual lyrics and its types; love lyrics and its types; verse satire of the Middle Ages; drama of the Middle Ages, Mastičkář; Tkadleček; Other topics (from humanism to baroque) will be dealt with in Old Czech Literature II seminar in the spring semester.
  • doc. Horáková: specific features of old Czech literature in comparison with modern literature (especially an allegoric approach to the representation of reality), the Bible as a source and inspiration; the genre system in Middle Ages; Old Slavic literature and its specific features, Kosmas' Chronicle; love lyrics in the Middle Ages; gallant epics in the Middle Ages; satire in the Middle Ages; the genre system of literary renaissance/humanism (early, generalised and popularised humanism); the genre system of baroque literature (early, high and last phases of baroque literature); the basic works of Czech baroque poetry, the systemisation of acquired information.
  • Mgr. Škarpová: The choice of texts will follow different criteria: chronology (from the half of the 9th century up to the end of the 14the century), language (literature in Old Slavonic, in Latin, Czech, German), genre (legend, chronicle, love and spiritual poetry, knight epos, liturgic drama, travel book) and functional (profane and spiritual, didactic, satirical, humoristic). The editions of the texts will be mainly recent, but we might look at some adaptations and translations.
Literature
  • LEHÁR, Jan. Česká literatura od počátků k dnešku. 2., dopl. vyd. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2004, 1078 s. ISBN 80-7106-308-8. info
  • PETRŮ, Eduard. Vzdálené hlasy :studie o starší české literatuře. Olomouc: Votobia, 1996, 443 s. ISBN 80-7198-162-1. info
  • GALÍK, Josef. Panorama české literatury :(literární dějiny od počátků do současnosti). Edited by Lubomír Machala - Eduard Petrů. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Rubico, 1994, 547 s. ISBN 80-85839-04-0. info
  • KOPECKÝ, Milan. Česká literatura od 20. let 17. století do 70. let 18. století [Kopecký, 1993]. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1993. ISBN 80-210-0696-X. info
  • KOPECKÝ, Milan. Český humanismus. 1. vyd. Praha: Melantrich, 1988, 282 s. URL info
  • ŠKARKA, Antonín. Půl tisíciletí českého písemnictví. Edited by Emanuel Macek - Pavel Spunar - Jan Lehár. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1986, 502 s. URL info
  • LEHÁR, Jan. Nejstarší česká epika : Dalimilova kronika, Alexandreida, první veršované legendy. Translated by Rudolf Mertlík. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1983, 230 s. URL info
  • Výbor z české literatury od počátků po dobu Husovu. Edited by Bohuslav Havránek - Josef Hrabák. 1. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, 1957, 851 s. URL info
  • VILIKOVSKÝ, Jan. Písemnictví českého středověku. Vydání první. V Praze: Universum, 1948, 255 stran. URL info
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Podmínky pro udělení zápočtu:
dr. Bočková - aktivní práce v semináři a vypracování písemné práce na zvolené téma
doc. Horáková - odevzdání písemné práce (její prezentování na semináři není závazné) a aktivní účast. Podmínkou pro přijetí ke zkoušce je seznam četby včetně dvou odborných studií se staročeskou tematikou. Problémové okruhy ke zkoušce (zadané z aspektu žánrově-tematického i chronologického) jsou profilovány na seminářích.
Mgr. Škarpová: zodpovědná příprava na seminář a aktivní práce v semináři, vypracování písemné práce na zvolené téma
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on completion of the course: Seminář souvisí s doporuč. přednáškou Vybrané kapitoly ze st. čes. lit. Na sem. navazuje St. č. lit. II. Celý kurs je zakončen zkouškou.
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1998, Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2004, recent)
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