AJ2301 British History, Culture and Literature

Faculty of Education
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/3/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, 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
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ2301/001: Thu 17:00–17:50 učebna 50, Z. Janík
AJ2301/002: Thu 16:00–16:50 učebna 50, Z. Janík
AJ2301/01: Wed 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, L. Podroužková
AJ2301/02: Wed 10:00–11:50 učebna 50, L. Podroužková
AJ2301/03: Wed 12:00–13:50 učebna 54, L. Podroužková
AJ2301/04: Wed 16:00–17:50 učebna 54, L. Podroužková
Prerequisites
AJ2102 Practical Language 1B
Practical Language 1B
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
Students are introduced to history, literature and culture of Great Britain from the period of Roman Britain to the half of the 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 interdepedence of historical development and its reflection in the arts • will have produced a given number of short response papers throughout the semester • will have read three literary works of the period
Syllabus
  • 1. Britain from the Roman Occupation to Anglo-Saxon Period: the cult of warrior, Alfred the Great, Beowulf 2. The Medieval England and the Ideals of Chivalry: Feudalism and Arthurian Legends 3. From the Middle Ages to Renaissance: Geoffrey Chaucer and the Tudors 4. The World as Stage: English Reformation and Renaissance Theater 5. From Monarchy to Republic and Back: Religious schisms of the 17th Century. John Milton and Paradise Lost 6. Classicism and Enlightenment: Rise of English Novel (Daniel Defoe) 7. Romanticism: The Legacy of the French Revolution and the Revolt against the power of reason (the Lake Poets. Gothic novel) 8. Early Victorian Period and the Rise of Victorian Novel 9. British Imperialism and the Late Victorian Period. Social criticism in Charles Dickens and Robert Luis Stevenson's novels 10. The late 19th and early 20th Century. Literary Modernism 11. World War I and the Retreat of British Empire: the War poets and Virginia Woolf 12. Period between wars and World War II: Orwell's dark vision of the future
Literature
    required literature
  • ALEXANDER, Michael. A history of English literature. 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, xx, 443. ISBN 9780230368316. 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
  • SANDERS, Andrew. The short Oxford history of English literature. Third edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, vii, 756. ISBN 9780199263387. info
  • The Oxford illustrated history of Britain. Edited by Kenneth O. Morgan. Reissued in new covers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, xiv, 646. ISBN 0192893262. info
Teaching methods
class readings and discussions, activities, learning centres
Assessment methods
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT: class attendance and participation, intensive and extensive reading, home and class assignments SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: test
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=2542
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2021/AJ2301