LMKB_a450 Autobiografické příběhy a identita

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Zuzana Fonioková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Jan Tlustý, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Jan Tlustý, 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
Prerequisites
TYP_STUDIA(ND)
Students must be able to read scholarly texts in English.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields 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
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to outline basic theoretical concepts related to autobiographical and autofictional writing, and to apply these principles to the analysis of specific texts. The course will also explore issues of narrative construction of identity, autobiographical memory, autobiographical/autofictional narratives across media, and political aspects of identity narratives. It will also encourage the practice and reflection of students' own self-narration.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to:
- explain key theoretical concepts related to autobiography and autofiction;
- apply these principles to the analysis of autobiographical texts;
- understand selected psychological and philosophical conceptions of narrative construction of identity;
- describe basic characteristics of autobiographical memory;
- reflect on their own production of autobiographical narratives.
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • Úvod: identita, narativ, autobiografie
  • Narativní identita; kulturní rozměr identity
  • Co je Já mimo narativ? Minimální Já Dana Zahaviho
  • Já a ne-Já - Evan Thompson: No Self? Not So Fast (in Why I Am Not a Buddhist)
  • Je každá autobiografie autofikce?
  • Já teď, ona tehdy - Annie Ernaux: Událost
  • Nespolehlivost autobiografické paměti with a twist - Mark Freeman: Moral Lateness (in Hindsight. The Promise and Peril of Looking Backward)
  • Identita intermediálně
  • Nejnovější česká autofikce v kontextu světové literatury
  • Jak psát o věcech, o kterých se nemluví - Sheila Heti, Nicol Hochholzerová, Rachel Cusk, Kim de L'Horizon, Chester Brown ad.
Literature
    required literature
  • MARCUS, Laura. Autobiography : a very short introduction. First edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, 145 stran. ISBN 9780199669240. info
    recommended literature
  • Identity technologies :constructing the self online. Edited by Anna Poletti - Julie Rak. 1 online r. ISBN 9780299296438. info
  • Effe, Alexandra, and Hannie Lawlor (eds.). The Autofictional: Approaches, Affordances, Forms. Palgrave, 2022.
  • FONIOKOVÁ, Zuzana. Od autobiografie k autofikci. Narativní strategie vyprávění o vlastním životě (From autobiography to autofiction: Narrative strategies of life stories). Brno: Host, 2024, 280 pp. Teoretická knihovna 42. ISBN 978-80-275-2266-8. URL info
  • SOUKUPOVÁ, Klára. Vyprávět sám sebe : teorie autobiografie. Vydání první. Praha: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2021, 268 stran. ISBN 9788076710436. info
  • KUNKA, Andrew. Autobiographical comics. First published. London: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018, 1 online. ISBN 9781474227865. URL info
  • RICŒUR, Paul. O sobě samém jako o jiném. Translated by Milan Lyčka. Vydání první. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2016, 407 stran. ISBN 9788072984381. info
  • CHANSKY, Ricia Anne. The Routledge autobiography studies reader. Edited by Emily Hipchen. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016, xxii, 351. ISBN 9781138904767. info
  • Graphic womenlife narrative and contemporary comics. Edited by Hillary L. Chute. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010, xiii, 297. ISBN 9780231521574. info
  • SMITH, Sidonie and Julia WATSON. Reading autobiography : a guide for interpreting life narratives. 2nd ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010, xiv, 394. ISBN 9780816669868. info
  • EAKIN, Paul John. Living autobiographically : how we create identity in narrative. 1st pub. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2008, xvii, 184. ISBN 9780801447242. info
  • SCHACTER, Daniel L. Sedm hříchů paměti : jak si pamatujeme a zapomínáme. Translated by František Koukolík. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 2003, 270 s. ISBN 8071855553. info
  • SCHACTER, Daniel L. Sedm hříchů paměti : jak si pamatujeme a zapomínáme. Translated by František Koukolík. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 2003, 270 s. ISBN 8071855553. info
  • EAKIN, Paul John. How our lives become stories : making selves. 1st pub. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999, xii, 207. ISBN 9780801436598. info
  • OLNEY, James. Memory & narrative : the weave of life-writing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998, xvi, 430. ISBN 0226628167. info
  • Women, autobiography, theory : a reader. Edited by Sidonie Smith - Julia Watson. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1998, xi, 526. ISBN 0299158446. info
  • LEJEUNE, Philippe. Le pacte autobiographique. Nouv. éd., augm. [Paris]: Éditions du Seuil, 1996, 381 s. ISBN 2020042932. info
  • EAKIN, Paul John. Fictions in autobiography : studies in the art of self-invent. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985, ix, 288. ISBN 9780691601939. info
Teaching methods
Seminars consisting of a student presentation of an autobiographical work, an introduction to the topic by the instructors, and a discussion of the texts (required pre-seminar reading). Most seminars will also include a discussion of creative assignments.
Assessment methods
presentation on an assigned topic and an oral colloquium OR a 5-page essay on a topic of the student's own choice and an oral colloquium; the colloquium involves a discussion about the topics and texts dealt with in the seminars
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught every week.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 0.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2026, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2026/LMKB_a450