CJBC168 Czech Literature through British Eyes

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2004
Extent and Intensity
0/2. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Robert Porter (lecturer), doc. PhDr. Jiří Kudrnáč, CSc. (deputy)
Mgr. Dina Polická (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jiří Kudrnáč, CSc.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Helena Bednářová
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 85 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/85, only registered: 0/85, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/85
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course offers a view of Twentieth Century Czech fiction from the viewpoint of the English reader. We will try to place Czech literature in the context of world literature and compare selected Czech texts with texts from English, and to some extent from American and Russian, literature. The Good Soldier Svejk is a seminal work. Whilst it has its predecessors, it is itself the predecessor of a whole series of anti-militaristic authors, such as Heller, Vonnegut anfd Voinovich.. Capek was, roughly speaking, the first Czech writer to be translated into English - why? 10-20 years ago Kundera enjoyed cult status in the West and his books have been translated into all the major languages of the world. Other authors to be discussed are Hrabal, Skvorecky and Pavel. Each week there will be a lecture, which will introduce the given authors' main works and will discuss his standing abroad. Then there will be a seminar which concentrates on one or two works, probably, The Good Soldier Svejk, Hordubal, I Served the King of England, The Engineer of Human Souls, Death of the Beautiful Roebucks,The Joke, Life is Elsewhere.
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • 1. Voják Švejk v kontextu světové literatury 2. Seminář 3. Proč BYL Karel Čapek tak populární v Anglii? 4. Seminář 5. Bohumil Hrabal: lze ho exportovat? 6. Seminář 7. Josef Škvorecký: vynikající inženýr lidských duší 8. Seminář 9. Ota Pavel... Kdo? 10. Seminář 11. Milan Kundera: Český, francouzský nebo evropský spisovatel? 12. Seminář
Literature
  • Robert Porter An Introduction to Twentieth Century Czech Fiction = Comedies of Defiance, Sussex Academic Press, 2001.
  • Hašek: - Parrott, C. The Bad Bohemian ; The Life of Jaroslav Hasek, London 1978
  • Hrabal Kadlec, V. Bohumil Hrabal in Dictionarry of Literary Biography, volume 232, S. Serafin (ed.), The Gale Group, Detroit, 2001
  • Klíma, I: Velký věk chce mít též velké mordy: Život a dílo Karla Čapka, Praha 2001
  • Škvorecký - Trensky, P. the Fiction of Josef Skvorecky, London, 1991.;I česká verze Praha 1995, přeložil A. Haman
  • Pynsent, R. Jaroslav Hasek in European Writers (Ed. G. Stade), volume 9 New York, 1989
  • Jankovič, M. Kapitoly z poetiky Bohumila Hrabala, Praha, 1996.
  • Dále další dostupná literatura v češtině, angličtině nebo jiných jazycích.
  • Klíma, I. Karel Čapek, Praha 1962
  • Kundera Misurella, F. Understanding Milan Kundera: Public Events, Private Lives , South Carolina, 1993
  • Čapek - Bradbrook, B. Karel Capek: In Pursuit of Truth, Tolerance and Trust, Brighton 1998 (česká verze je v tisku..)
  • Pytlík, R. Kniha o Švejkovi, Praha 1983
  • Kosková, H Milan Kundera, Jinočany, 1998
  • Pavel Svozil, B. Svět próz Oty Pavla ; doslov k sbírce Fialový poustevník, Praha, 1977
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Požadavky k zápočtu: Písemný esej zabývající se aspoň dvěma jmenovanými autory, v rozsahu 2000 slov (6-7 normostran).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught every week.
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