SDEb1106 Film as a historical source for the post-war history of the Visegrad Four countries

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Jan Mervart, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jan Mervart, Ph.D.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aims of the course are twofold: firstly, to understand the historical, cultural, and political differences, as well as the overlaps, in the development of the state socialist regimes of Hungary, Poland, and former Czechoslovakia, and secondly, to grasp the feature film as a relevant historical source.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will be able to: - grasp the feature film as a historical source; - interpret it in relation to contemporary history, more precisely the history of state socialism, in the context of the Visegrad Four Countries; - evaluate the differences and similarities in the post-war historical development of the Visegrad Four countries; - apply the above principles to any film product
Syllabus
  • 1. Film as a historical source 2. Socialist realism: the formation of the new man 3. The Polish Film School: history and the national road to socialism 4. The Czech New Wave: rethinking Stalinism and mirroring existing socialism 5. The Slovak New Wave: the search for morality and joy 6. Károly Makk and Márta Mészáros: two images of Hungarian Stalinism 7. Béla Tarr and Věra Chytilová: everyday images of real socialism 8. Polish Cinema of Moral Concern: a Socialist Microcosm 9. Polish Cinema of Moral Concern: Man in the 20th Century 10. Slovak Cinema of the 1980s: Moral concern in Czechoslovak late socialism 11. Reading film as a historical source: Miklós Jancsó, The Round-Up, Hungary 1966.
Literature
  • Kenez, Peter. Cinema and Soviet society from the revolution to the death of Stalin. London, 2001. ISBN 978-1-86064-568-6.
  • Falkowska, Janina. The political films of Andrzej Wajda. Providence, 1996. ISBN 1-57181-005-6.
  • JUDT, Tony. Poválečná Evropa : její historie od roku 1945. Translated by Dalibor Výborný. V českém jazyce vydání. Praha: Prostor, 2021, 983 stran. ISBN 9788072604876. info
  • MERVART, Jan and Jan RŮŽIČKA. "Rehabilitovat Marxe!" : československá stranická inteligence a myšlení poststalinské modernity. Vydání první. Praha: NLN, s.r.o., 2020, 320 stran. ISBN 9788074227714. info
  • NEČASOVÁ, Denisa. Nový socialistický člověk. Československo 1948-1956 (The New Socialist Man. Czechoslovakia 1948-1956). 1st ed. Brno: Host, 2018, 271 pp. ISBN 978-80-7577-185-8. info
  • SCHMARC, Vít. Země lyr a ocele : subjekty, ideologie, modely, mýty a rituály v kultuře českého stalinismu. Vydání první. Praha: Academia, 2017, 423 stran. ISBN 9788020027030. info
  • PŁAŻEWSKI, Jerzy. Dějiny filmu : 1895-2005. Edited by Karel Tabery. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2009, 901 s. ISBN 9788020016898. info
  • THOMPSON, Kristin and David BORDWELL. Dějiny filmu : přehled světové kinematografie. Translated by Helena Bendová - Jan Bernard - Michal Bregant - Zdeněk Holý - V. První vydání. Praha: Akademie múzických umění, 2007, 827 stran. ISBN 9788071068983. info
  • CUNNINGHAM, John. Hungarian cinema : from coffee house to multiplex. 1st pub. London: Wallflower Press, 2004, xii, 258. ISBN 1903364809. info
  • JORDANOVA, Dina. Cinema of the other Europe : the industry and artistry of East Central European film. 1st pub. London: Wallflower Press, 2003, x, 224. ISBN 1903364647. info
  • HALTOF, Marek. Polish national cinema. New York: Berghahn Books, 2002, xiv, 304. ISBN 1571812768. info
  • LIEHM, A. J. Ostře sledované filmy : československá zkušenost. Edited by Jan Lukeš. Vyd. v ČR a v tomto souboru. Praha: Národní filmový archiv, 2001, 470 s. ISBN 8070041005. info
  • MACEK, Václav and Jelena PAŠTÉKOVÁ. Dejiny slovenskej kinematografie. Martin: Osveta, 1997, 599 s. ISBN 8021704004. info
  • RUPNIK, Jacques. Jiná Evropa. 1. vyd. Praha: Prostor, 1992, 341 s. ISBN 8085190176. info
  • FERRO, Marc. Cinema and history. Translated by Naomi Greene. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1988, 175 s. ISBN 081431905X. info
Teaching methods
lectures, seminar papers
Assessment methods
scored seminar paper (50 %), colloquium (50 %)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
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