NJII_94B Prague's German-Jewish Writers

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Zdeněk Mareček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Zdeněk Mareček, Ph.D.
Department of German, Scandinavian and Netherland Studies – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of German, Scandinavian and Netherland Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 18:00–19:40 G25
Prerequisites
The course requires C1 language proficiency and the willingness to read 15-20 pages of text each week (in the form of close reading) and to discus its alternative readings.
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: 0/25, 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 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Prague used to be an important centre of Jewish culture in Central Europe. "Sippurim", the ancient Jewish stories from Prague, have been published since the middle of the 19th century. Leopold Kompert, the author of the first-published stories from the Jewish ghetto, and Fritz Mauthner, the first systematic critic of the language, were studying in Prague. Authors such as Wiener, Weiss, Baum, Brod, Pick, Winder, Kornfeld, Ungar, Natonek, and Grab have long since been overshadowed by Kafka and Werfel, but they were well known in Prague's contemporary German-speaking community. Finally, H. G. Adler's and Leo Perutz's novels "Eine Reise" and "Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke", published after 1945, were the swan songs of Prague's Jewish literature in German.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will become acquainted with the historical and literary context in which the texts from Sippurim to the novel "A Journey" by H. G. Adler were created, understand the intertextual connections of these works and are able to to interpret a non-canonical text in relation to the Prague contexts.
Syllabus
  • 1. Fritz Mauthner: Ein Abend im Irrenhause (1914)
  • 2. Gustav Meyrink: Golem (1915)
  • 3. Max Brod: Das tschechisches Dienstmädchen (1909)
  • 4. Oskar Baum: Die Welt im Dunkeln (1909)
  • 5. Ludwig Winder: Der Turnlehrer Pravda (1923)
  • 6. Ernst Weiß: Franta Zlin (1919)
  • 7. Hans Natonek: Wahnsinnig (1920)
  • 8. Hermann Ungar: Die Brüder, Der Bankbeamte (1922 and 1924, resp.)
  • 9. Franz Werfel: Das Trauerhaus (1926)
  • 10. Hermann Grab: Stadtpark (1935)
  • 11. Leo Perutz: Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke (1953)
Literature
  • PAVLÁT, Leo, Jiří FIŠER and Arno PAŘÍK. Židovská Praha. Praha: Lidové noviny. ISBN 80-7106-027-5. info
  • Adler, H. G. Lietrární tvorba pražské školy. Die Dichtung der Prager Schule. Brno: Barrister & Principal, 2003.
  • DEMETZ, Peter. Praha černá a zlatá :výjevy ze života jednoho evropského města. Translated by Zdeněk Hron. v čes. jazyce vyd. 1. Praha: Prostor, 1998, 501 s. ISBN 80-85190-92-3. info
  • STÖLZL, Christoph. Kafkovy zlé Čechy :k sociální historii pražského žida. Vyd. 1. Praha: Nakladatelství Franze Kafky, 1997, 165 s. ISBN 80-85844-28-1. info
  • BROD, Max. Život plný bojů :autobiografie. Praha: Nakladatelství Franze Kafky, 1994. ISBN 80-85844-00-1. info
  • PĚKNÝ, Tomáš. Historie Židů v Čechách a na Moravě. 1. vyd. Praha: Sefer, 1993, 430 s. ISBN 80-900895-4-2. info
  • STÖLZL, Christoph. Kafkas böses Böhmen :zur Sozialgeschichte eines Prager Juden. Ungekürzte, korrigierte aus. Frankfurt am Main: Ullstein, 1975, 147 s. ISBN 3-548-34546-8. info
Teaching methods
Short presentations based on complementary reading of primary and secondary literature, team work in the formulation of alternative interpretations, design of the structure of own seminar paper, critique of biographical interpretations (biographical fallacy).
Assessment methods
The number of absences may not exceed two seminars. The term paper may not deviate from the given topic and must be fit in linguistic and formal terms for writing an annual thesis or a master's thesis.
Language of instruction
German
Further Comments
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2021/NJII_94B