RLBcB518 Religious Otherness and Its Representations

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jana Valtrová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jana Valtrová, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
( RLA01 Introduction to Religion || RLKA01 Introduction to Religion || RLBcA001 Introduction to Religion || RLBcKA001 Introduction to Religion ) && ! RLB518 Religious Otherness
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course brings an overview of issues, problems and theories connected to "Otherness" as a culturaly constructed category. Besides basic categories of Otherness, such as physical appearance, ethnicity, gender, or social status, the course focuses primarily on otherness based on religious identity. The aim of the course is to offer theories and methods usefull for the study of interrreligious contacts and relationships. Particular cases from the history of European encounters with Non-Christians will help to explain selected theories of Other and its representation (T. Todorov, S. Greenblatt, J. Smith, S. Hall). At the end of the course shifts in modern scholarship will be presented, such as the theories of hybridity (H. Bhabha) and global histories (S. Subrahmanyam).
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
  • understand the process of contruction of the Other and its implications;
  • understand basic theories of the Other (Todorov, Greenblatt, Smith) and consider their applicability in particular situations;
  • identify basic obstacles of effective communication and be ware of them;
  • understand the process of representation of Other.
    • Syllabus
    • Otherness as a cultural category; criteria of Otherness (physiognomy, physical and mental condition, ethnicity, gender, social status, religion
    • Metonymic, topographic and lingvistic model of otherness (J. Smith)
    • Communicating with the Other - language barrier, meaning, symbol. Example: Language, meaning and translation during the conquest of America (T. Todorov, S. Greenblatt).
    • Circuit of culture (S. Hall)
    • Reprezentation of the Other and its functions (S. Hall). Example: The image of non-Christians in medieval Europe
    • Reprezentation of the Other and its functions (S. Hall). Example: The image of Tibetan Buddhism in Czechoslovakia
    • Nationalism, religion and otherness. Example: Indian Christians in contemporary India
    • Akulturation, accommodation, asimilation, intergration as modes of interaction with the Other. Example: Roberto Nobili and his Christian mission in South India
    • Self and the Other in a dialogue - principles of effective communication
    • Transformations of the usage of the concept of otherness in modern scholarship - multiculturalism, hybridity anf global histories (H. Bhabha, S. Subrahmanyam).
    Literature
      required literature
    • Antropologie multikulturních společností : rozumět identitě. Edited by Thomas Hylland Eriksen - Marek Jakoubek, Translated by Tereza Kuldová. Vyd. 1. Praha: Triton, 2007, 268 s. ISBN 9788072549252. info
    • TODOROV, Tzvetan. Dobytí Ameriky : problém druhého. Translated by Kateřina Lukešová. Vyd. 1. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1996, 317 s. ISBN 8020405828. info
      recommended literature
    • HALL, Stuart, Linda JANES, Paul DU GAY and Hugh MACKAY. Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. SAGE Publications, 1997, 151 pp. ISBN 0-7619-5402-3. info
    • VALTROVÁ, Jana. Středověká setkání s "jinými". Modloslužebníci, židé, saracéni a heretici v misionářských zprávách o Asii (Medieval Encounters with the Other. Idolatres, Jews, Saracens and Heretics in Missionary Reports about Asia). 1. vyd. Praha: Argo, 2011, 209 pp. Každodenní život 47. ISBN 978-80-257-0399-1. info
    • Cultural encounters : representing otherness. Edited by Elizabeth Hallam - Brian V. Street. New York: Routledge, 2000, xiv, 292. ISBN 0415202809. info
    • GREENBLATT, Stephen. Podivuhodná vlastnictví : zázraky Nového světa. Edited by Lucie Johnová - Martin Procházka. Vyd. české 1. Praha: Karolinum, 2004, 245 s. ISBN 8024608618. info
    • BHABHA, Homi K. The location of culture. 1st pub. London: Routledge, 1998, xiii, 285. ISBN 0415054060. info
    • Three ways to be alientravails & encounters in the early modern world. Edited by Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Press, 2011, xviii, 228. ISBN 9781611680195. info
    Teaching methods
    Lectures, discussions, reading.
    Assessment methods
    For colloquim the students submitt during the course two written commentaries (2-4 pages) to selected texts (40% of overall evaluation in the course). These texts are discussed in lessons, active participation in discussion is bonified. At the end of the course the student submitt either a detailed annotation of a selected book, or a seminar work (60% of overall evaluation in the course).
    Language of instruction
    Czech
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    The course is taught once in three years.
    The course is taught: every week.
    Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučující.
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