AJL50002 Literary and Cultural Theory II

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 8 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jan Čapek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Filip Krajník, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 8:00–9:40 B2.23, except Mon 17. 4.
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
Course objectives
This is a two-semester course designed to give students a grounding in the theoretical bases underlying the study of literature and culture. This course provides a comprehensive overview of a number of theories and theorists who have influenced, in a striking way, various schools of thought. The first semester takes a diachronic approach, looking at the main critical schools and texts in the history of literary criticism and focusing on developments in literary theory in the twentieth century. The second semester employs a synchronic technique to examine the range of current theoretical approaches to the study of culture. In both semesters the stress is on the application of theory, with students being required to examine particular texts (of all kinds, including visual and film texts) in the light of the theoretical approaches under consideration. At the end of the course, students will be able to discuss those literary and critical theories with greater sensitivity and appreciation, and will have an understanding of the contexts from which those theories arose as well as situations in which they can be aptly applied.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to discuss those literary and critical theories with greater sensitivity and appreciation, and will have an understanding of the contexts from which those theories arose as well as situations in which they can be aptly applied. Students will be able to apply these knowledge and skills in other courses at the Department or when writing their theses.
Syllabus
  • This is a two-semester course designed to give students a grounding in the theoretical bases underlying the study of literature and culture. The first semester takes a diachronic approach, looking at the main critical schools and texts in the history of literary criticism and focusing on developments in literary theory in the twentieth century. The second semester employs a synchronic technique to examine the range of current theoretical approaches to the study of culture. In both semesters the stress is on the application of theory, with students being required to examine particular texts (of all kinds, including visual and film texts) in the light of the theoretical approaches under consideration. Topics covered in this semester included:
  • Literature and nation, world and national literature
  • Difference: Derrida, Deleuze, Badiou
  • Conversation, Communication and Reason: Bakhtin, Habermas, Rorty
  • Michel Foucault
  • Feminist theories
  • Queer Theory
  • Postmodernism
  • New historicism, cultural materialism
  • Colonialism, Imperialism, Post-Colonialism
  • Theories of race
  • Film theory
  • Theories of popular culture
Literature
    recommended literature
  • GOULD, Stephen Jay. Jak neměřit člověka :pravda a předsudky v dějinách hodnocení lidské inteligence. Praha: Lidové noviny, 1998, 436 s. ISBN 80-7106-168-9. info
  • Feminisms : an anthology of literary theory and criticism. Edited by Robyn Warhol-Down - Diane Price Herndl. Rev. [2nd] ed. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1997, xx, 1207. ISBN 0813523893. info
  • SAID, Edward W. Culture and imperialism :A magnificent, sweeping work of intellectual and political enquiry. London: Chatto & Windus, 1993, xxxii, 444. ISBN 0-7011-3808-4. info
  • TIFFIN, Helen, Gareth GRIFFITHS and Bill ASHCROFT. The empire writes back : theory and practice in post-colonial literatures. London: Routledge, 1989, viii, 246. ISBN 0-415-01208-2. info
  • FISKE, John. Understanding popular culture. London: Routledge, 1989, xi, 206. ISBN 0415078768. info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. The use of pleasure :volume 2 of The history of sexuality. Translated by Robert Hurley. Harmondsworth (Middlesex), England: Viking, 1986, vii, 293 s. ISBN 0-670-80989-6. info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. The history of sexuality. New York: Vintage, 1980, 168 s. ISBN 0394740262. info
  • DERRIDA, Jacques. Writing and difference. Translated by Alan Bass. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978, xx, 342 s. ISBN 0-7100-0900-3. info
  • HABERMAS, Jürgen. Theory and practice. Translated by John Viertel. Boston: Beacon Press, 1974, ix, 310. ISBN 080701527X. info
Teaching methods
Weekly lecture series (1 1/2 hours), with individual lectures given by different speakers.
Assessment methods
An oral exam where is student is examined by two randomly-selected lecturers.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
General note: This course is NOT designated for Erasmus students! List of courses offerd by the Department of English and American studies for Erasmsus students is available at http://www.phil.muni.cz/wkaa/ under "Information for Erasmus students".
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2023/AJL50002