CJLB607 Speculative fiction

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Tereza Dědinová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Zbyněk Fišer, 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
Tue 12:00–13:40 B2.22, except Tue 16. 4.
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: 15/25, 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
In the seminar, after an introductory presentation of speculative fiction as a concept that encompasses a multitude of non-mimetic genre (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.) and non-genre art forms, we will focus on a closer examination of selected literary works of world and Czech literature.
We will place each of the analyzed texts in a broader genre, historical and cultural context, while paying attention to the development of speculative fiction and the changes in how art reflects the current themes and challenges of our world.
Thus, seminar topics will include global warming and environmental crisis, feminism and gender, family relationships and ageism, social networks and bubbles, relationships with other intelligent species, the actualization of myth, (un)bounded imagination, and the impact of technology on communication.
The seminar will include a discussion session focused on reading recommendations.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student will:
- be oriented in the category of speculative fiction;
- be able to supplement literary analysis with cultural and historical context;
- be familiar with selected texts by contemporary major writers of specfulative fiction;
- apply theoretical knowledge to specific texts;
- interpret fantastic motifs in  literary works.
Syllabus
  • Neal a Jarrod Shusterman: Sucho
  • Lydia Millet: Tehdy jsme žili v letní zemi
  • Janusz A. Zajdel: Limes inferior + Černé zrcadlo, epizoda Nosedive a Orville, epizoda 7.
  • Kelly Link: Magie pro začátečníky
  • Eva Hauserová: U nás v Agónii
  • Hanuš Seiner: Terra nullius
  • Johanna Sinisalo: Jádro slunce
  • Ted Chiang: Když se vám líbí, co vidíte: Dokument
  • Mike Resnick: Kirinyaga
Literature
  • DĚDINOVÁ, Tereza. Klimatická fikce jako otázka i odpověď : Analýza současné cli-fi (Climate Fiction as a Question and an Answer : an Analysis af Contemporary Cli-fi). Svět Literatury. Praha: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2023, vol. 33, No 67, p. 104-120. ISSN 0862-8440. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.14712/23366729.2023.1.8. URL info
  • ATTEBERY, Brian. Fantasy : how it works. First edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022, 198 stran. ISBN 9780192856234. info
  • Fantasy and myth in the Anthropocene : imagining futures and dreaming hope in literature and media. Edited by Marek Oziewicz - Brian Attebery - Tereza Dědinová. First published. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022, 1 online. ISBN 9781350203358. URL info
  • DĚDINOVÁ, Tereza, Weronika ŁASZKIEWICZ and Sylwia BOROWSKA-SZERSZUN. Images of the Anthropocene in Speculative Fiction : Narrating the Future. první. New York, London: Lexington Books, 2021, 276 pp. Literary Criticism / Science Fiction & Fantasy. ISBN 978-1-7936-3663-8. URL info
  • LEVY, Michael M. and Farah MENDLESOHN. Children's fantasy literature : an introduction. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, viii, 274. ISBN 9781107018143. info
  • DĚDINOVÁ, Tereza. Po divné krajině : charakteristika a vnitřní členění fantastické literatury (Through a Strange Landscape : Characteristics and Inner Structuring of Fantastic Literature). Vydání první. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, 228 pp. Spisy Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity = Opera Facultatis philosophicae Universitatis Masarykianae; 433. ISBN 978-80-210-7871-0. 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 and Edward JAMES. A short history of fantasy. Rev. and updated ed. Faringdon: Libri, 2012, 285 s. ISBN 9781907471667. info
  • 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
  • MENDLESOHN, Farah. Rhetorics of fantasy. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 2008, xxv, 306. ISBN 9780819568670. info
  • The Cambridge companion to science fiction. Edited by Edward James - Farah Mendlesohn. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, xxvii, 295. ISBN 9780521016575. info
  • ATTEBERY, Brian. Strategies of fantasy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992, xiv, 152. ISBN 0253310709. info
Teaching methods
Readings on the topic, discussions, participation in collaborative projects, teacher input, presentations.
Assessment methods
Reading, preparation of the selected assignment and its presentation, maximum of two absences.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
General note: Předmět bude otevřen a vyučován při minimálním počtu 10 zapsaných studujících.
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