AJ48001 Commonwealth Literatures and Cultures

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 4 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Thomas Donaldson Sparling, B.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, 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
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ41002 Practical English II || AJ01002 Practical English II
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
The aim of this course is to go beyond Anglo-American literary canon and introduce students to literatures in settler colonies, particularly in Australia and Canada. The focus will be on specific literary developments taking place within various socio-historical contexts, as well as on analyzing the ways in which these literatures have contributed to articulation of settler national identities on the on hand, and, on the other, keep critically intervening in these national identities.
Learning outcomes
Student will be able to:
-compare and contrast cultural and literary developments in Canada and Australia
-get familiar with historical as well as more recent developments, movements, trends in Australian and Canadian cultural production
-appreciate the diversity of thematic and formal strategies in the two settler cultures
-write and think critcailly about discussed topics
Syllabus
  • Syllabus:
  • Session 1: Colonial Visions
  • Australia: Henry Lawson, “The Drover’s Wife”, A.D. Hope, “Australia”, A.A. Phillips, “The Cultural Cringe” Canada: Susanna Moodie, from Roughing It in the Bush (“Canada-A Contrast,” “Chapter 3-Our Journey Up the Country”)
  • Session 2: National Belongings
  • Australia: Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2005)
  • Session 3: Multicultural Encounters
  • Australia: Merlinda Bobis, “White Turtle”; Ania Walwicz “Australia”, “New World” Canada: Madeleine Thien, “Simple Recipes”, “A Map of the City” from Simple Recipes
  • Session 3: Indigenous Interventions
  • Canada: Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach Australia: Kim Scott, True Country
  • Session 5, May 4: Postcolonial Readings
  • Australia: Film Australia, dir. Baz Luhrman Canada: Margaret Atwood, Surfacing
Literature
    required literature
  • GRENVILLE, Kate. The secret river. Melbourne: Text, 2013, 334 s. ISBN 9781921776403. info
  • THIEN, Madeleine. Simple recipes : stories. 1st Emblem Editions publ. Toronto, Ontario: McClelland & Stewart, 2002, 229 s. ISBN 0771085125. info
  • ROBINSON, Eden. Monkey beach. 1st pub. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, 377 s. ISBN 0618073272. info
  • SCOTT, Kim. True country. 1st pub. North Fremantle, W.A.: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1993, 256 s. ISBN 1863683232. info
  • LAWSON, Henry. Collected stories of Henry Lawson. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin Books Australia, 1987, 846 s. ISBN 0670900192. info
  • ATWOOD, Margaret. Surfacing. Paperjacks ed. Markham: PaperJacks, 1973, 208 s. ISBN 0770102778. info
    not specified
  • MOODIE, Susanna. Roughing it in the bush, or, Forest life in Canada. Edited by Carl Frederick Klinck. Repr. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1987, 238 s. ISBN 0-7710-9131-1. info
Teaching methods
mini-lectures, class and group discussions
Assessment methods
Evaluation will be based on in-class participation, writing response papers and an essay at the end of the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: every other week.
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 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/AJ48001