FF:CJLB602 Fantastic Literature - Course Information

CJLB602 Interpretation of Fantastic literature

Extent and Intensity

0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching

Teacher(s)

Mgr. Tereza Dědinová, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Tereza Dědinová, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Veronika Bromová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts

Timetable

Thu 10:00–11:40 D33, except Mon 18. 11. to Sun 24. 11.

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 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 18/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

The seminar focuses on the interpretation of fantastic literature in a broader cultural and social context. It aims primarily at more recent Anglophone and Czech literature written from the 1980s to the present. To encourage discussion, we will mostly work with short stories read before each class; longer texts will be included no more than three times per semester. We will focus on the varied functions of fantastic elements in genre and non-genre fiction, with several classes devoted to Czech and Slovak works before 1989 and the changing poetics since the 1990s. We will be interested in metaphors, estrangement on the level of fictional facts, narrative and discourse with their impact on the reception of texts. Given the growing popularity of young adult fiction, we will include a discussion class devoted to its textual and extra-textual specifics.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
- interpret texts of fantastic literature;
- understand the broader context of the popularity of young adult fiction;
- analyse the transformation of Czech fantasy before and after 1989;
- Recognise archetypal and schematic characters and plots;
- analyse the typical and distinctive stylistic elements of fantastic narratives.

Syllabus

• Alternative history as a key to one's own past
• Antiutopia in the 1980s as social-critical literature in disguise
• Urban fantasy in Czech and international context
• Fantasy in postmodern garb and the butterfly effect
• Contemporary ambitious fantasy from a postcolonial and ecocritical perspective
• Feminism in fantastic literature
• Classical science fiction and the questioning of the knowability of the world or Fantasy as a gateway to the world
• Entertainment and/or seriousness in contemporary fantasy
• Young adult literature in multiple perspectives

Literature

required literature
• TOLKIEN, J. R. R. Netvoři a kritikové a jiné eseje. Translated by Jan Čermák. Vyd. v tomto souboru 1. Praha: Argo, 2006, 266 s. ISBN 8072037889. info
• The encyclopedia of fantasy. Edited by John Clute - John Grant - Michael Ashley - David G. Hartwell - Gary We. 1st pub. London: Orbit, 1997, xvi, 1049. ISBN 1857233689. info

recommended literature
• DĚDINOVÁ, Tereza. Hrdina jako archetyp, nebo stereotyp? Úloha postavy ve fantastické literatuře (The hero as an archetype or a stereotype? The role of character in fantastic literature). Universitas. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2016, p. 9-15. info
• DĚDINOVÁ, Tereza, Zbyněk FIŠER, Jakub JARINA, Luisa NOVÁKOVÁ, Matěj ANTOŠ, Jana CINDLEROVÁ, Joanna CZAPLIŃSKA, Antonín DOLÁK, Michal FRÁNEK, Anna GNOT, Daniel JAKUBÍČEK, Jiří JELÍNEK, Zdeněk JEŽEK, Hana MÁLKOVÁ, Lenka NALDONIOVÁ, Ester NOVÁKOVÁ, Michaela PAUČO, Ondřej POMAHAČ, Martina SALHIOVÁ, Jakub SOUČEK and Helena ULBRECHTOVÁ. Na rozhraní světů. Fantastická literatura v mezioborovém zkoumání (At the Edge of the Worlds. Fantastic Literature in Interdisciplinary Exploration). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2016, 376 pp. Spisy Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity, sv. 454. ISBN 978-80-210-8441-4. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M210-8441-2016. Digitální knihovna FF MU Munishop info
• DĚDINOVÁ, Tereza. Po divné krajině : charakteristika a vnitřní členění fantastické literatury (Through a Strange Landscape : Characteristics and Inner Structuring of Fantastic Literature). Online. 1., elektronické vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, 228 pp. Spisy Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity, sv. 433. ISBN 978-80-210-7872-7. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M210-7872-2015. Munishop Digitální knihovna FF MU info
• ATTEBERY, Brian. Stories about stories : fantasy and the remaking of myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 240 s. ISBN 9780199316069. info
• MENDLESOHN, Farah. Rhetorics of fantasy. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 2008, xxv, 306. ISBN 9780819568670. info
• The encyclopedia of science fiction. Edited by John Clute - Peter Nicholls - Brian M. Stableford - John Grant. 1st pub. London: Orbit, 1993, xxxvi, 137. ISBN 1857231244. info
• ATTEBERY, Brian. Strategies of fantasy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992, xiv, 152. ISBN 0253310709. info

not specified
• OZIEWICZ, Marek. One earth, one people : the mythopoeic fantasy series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L'Engle and Orson Scott Card. Edited by Brian Attebery. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2008, vii, 263. ISBN 9780786431359. info
• The language of the night : essays on fantasy and science fiction. Edited by Susan Wood - Ursula K. Le Guin. Rev. ed. London: Women's Press, 1989, 210 s. ISBN 0704342022. info

Teaching methods

Thematic reading (compulsory texts), elaboration of analysis of given text and its oral presentation (homework), discussion on topic.

Assessment methods

Presentation on seminary or an essay, thematic discussion, two absences.

Language of instruction

Czech

Further Comments

Study Materials
The course is taught only once.

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