RSn092 Comparative Literature and Theory of Literary Genres

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc.
Department of Slavonic Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: doc. PhDr. Jiří Gazda, CSc.
Supplier department: Department of Slavonic Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(N)
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 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of the subject is to acquaint the students with the basic problems of the comparative literature and literary genre studies as a way to a deeper cognition of literary diachrony and synchrony.
Learning outcomes
After finishing the course, the student will know how to apply methodological tools of comparative literature and genre studies in the study of literary artefact and to interpret it in detail in his individual coursework.
Syllabus
  • Comparative literature as a method and subdiscipline of literary criticism.
  • The development of comparative method: pre-scientific stage, M. Staël, W. von Goethe, P. J. Šafařík and others, comparative literature and the unity of philology.
  • Comparative literature in the period of positivism: France, Russia, A. Veselovsky.
  • The formism/formalism/eidology stage of comparative literature—F. Wollman, V. Zhirmunsky.
  • Comparative literature, Slavonic studies and structuralism.
  • Four models of comparative literature in Central Europe (S. Wollman, the centre of comparative literature, Brno school, Ďurišin’s team) and the conception of the Czech school of comparative literature (S. Wollman).
  • Types of comparative approaches to literature: contactological and genetic, typological, ethnological and administrative.
  • Related literatures, area complexes, general literature, specific interliterary communities, interliterary centrism, interliterariness, world literature and its conceptions.
  • Objects of comparison: comparative terminology and morphology (eidology).
  • The world literature and world literatures. General comparative literature.
  • The development of genre views of literature. Evolution of genre system.
  • Origins of genre studies as a subdiscipline of literary criticism—Paul van Tieghem.
  • Polish genre studies centres, journal “Zagadnienia rodzajów literackich”, S. Skwarczyńska, J. Trzynadlowski, J. Kleiner, J. Kolbuszewski.
  • Slovak and Czech genre studies (J. Hvišč, V. Svatoň, D. Hodrová, Brno genre theory school and others).
  • Genre research round the American journal “Genre”.
  • Attempts at genre systematics reform—G. Pospelov, W. Ruttkowski and others.
  • The unity of comparative and genre views of literature—comparative genre studies typology.
Literature
    not specified
  • KREJČÍ, Karel. Literatury a žánry v evropské dimenzi : nejen česká literatura v zorném poli komparatistiky. Edited by Marcel Černý - Vladimír Svatoň. Vydání první. Praha: Slovanský ústav AV ČR, v. v. i., 2014, 663 stran. ISBN 9788087825037. info
  • Národní literatura a komparatistika. Edited by Dalibor Tureček. Vyd. 1. Brno: Host, 2009, 280 s. ISBN 9788072943050. info
  • CORBINEAU-HOFFMANN, Angelika. Úvod do komparatistiky. 1. vyd. Praha: Akropolis, 2008, 207 s. ISBN 9788086903781. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Ruský román znovu navštívený (The Russian Novel Revisited). 1st ed. Brno: Nadace Universitas, Akademické nakladatelství CERM, Nakladatelství a vydavatelství NAUMA, 2005, 209 pp. Edice Scientia. ISBN 80-7204-423-0. info
  • MOCNÁ, Dagmar and Josef PETERKA. Encyklopedie literárních žánrů. 1. vyd. Litomyšl: Paseka, 2004, 699 s. ISBN 807185669X. info
  • PAVERA, Libor and František VŠETIČKA. Lexikon literárních pojmů. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Nakladatelství Olomouc, 2002, 422 s. ISBN 80-7182-124-1. info
  • POSPÍŠIL, Ivo. Genologie a proměny literatury (Genre Studies and Modifications of Literature). Brno: Masarykova univerzita, FF, 1998, 154 pp. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity. ISBN 80-210-1872-0. info
  • HODROVÁ, Daniela. Román zasvěcení. Jinočany: H & H, 1993, 230 s., [1. ISBN 80-85787-34-2. info
  • ČERVENKA, Miroslav. Slovník básnických knih : díla české poezie od obrození do roku 1945. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1990. ISBN 80-202-0217-X. info
  • WOLLMAN, Slavomír. Česká škola literární komparatistiky : (tradice, problémy, přínos). Vyd. 1. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, 1989, 138 s. info
  • HODROVÁ, Daniela. Hledání románu : kapitoly z historie a typologie žánru. Vyd. 1. V Praze: Československý spisovatel, 1989, 275 p. URL info
  • MELETINSKIJ, Jeleazar Moisejevič. Poetika mýtu. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1989, 467 s. ISBN 8020708049. URL info
  • LIBA, Peter. Čitateľ a literárny proces. V Bratislave: Tatran, 1987. info
  • HVIŠČ, Jozef. Poetika literárnych žánrov. Vyd. 1. V Bratislave: Tatran, 1985, 210 s. info
  • ĎURIŠIN, Dionýz. Teória literárnej komparatistiky. Bratislava: Slovenský spisovateľ, 1985. info
  • BACHTIN, Michail Michajlovič. Román jako dialog. Vydání první. Praha: Odeon, 1980, 479 stran. URL info
  • ĎURIŠIN, Dionýz. Dejiny slovenskej literárnej komparatistiky : príspevok k vývinu slovenskej literárnej vedy. Bratislava: Veda, 1979. info
  • HVIŠČ, Jozef. Problémy literárnej genológie. Bratislava: Veda, 1979. info
  • HRABÁK, Josef. Poetika. Druhé vydání. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1977, 361 stran. info
  • Komparatistika a genológia : zborník venovany VII. medzinárodnému slavistickému kongresu vo Varšave. Edited by Pavol Petrus. 1. vyd. Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo, 1973, 189 s. info
  • BRUKNER, Josef and Jiří FILIP. Větší poetický slovník. Vyd. 1. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1968, 321 s. URL info
  • KRAUSOVÁ, Nora. Príspevky k literárnej teórii : poetika románu. V Bratislave: Slovenský spisovateľ, 1967. info
  • ĎURIŠIN, Dionýz. Problémy literárnej komparatistiky. 1. vyd. Bratislava: Veda, 1967, 197 s. info
  • ARISTOTELÉS. Poetika. Edited by Iogann Lvovič Al'tman - Julie Nováková. 6. vyd., v Orbisu 2. Praha: Orbis, 1964, 97 s. info
Teaching methods
The lecture is based on the outline and interpretation of literary genre studies and their methods applying illustrative examples and textual and intertextual comparative analyses in the framework of world literature. The seminar is focused on the presentation of the students’ own research and discussion.
Assessment methods
Seminar paper (+ short presentation of the paper), written exam. Written exam aims at testing the student’s insight into the main theories, concepts and methodologies of the discipline.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
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