AJ44011 British Literature I (20th Century)

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2018
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 4 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each even Friday 15:00–16:40 G32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course aims at an overview of the literary production in prose, poetry and drama of the twentieth century. This is only possible if we focus on important developments, streams, movements or changes of direction and sample them on some works of just a few out of the many writers active in the period. The seminars will consist of short introductory lectures and discussion of critical essays, short stories and poems. Participants will also be required to read three novels from the period by writers of their choice. Students will acquire survey knowledge of the period and develop skills of critical reading of literary texts.
Syllabus
  • Week 1 (7 October): Modernism and the pre-WWII period, new genres; Readings: Joseph Conrad, Preface to The Nigger of the "Narcissus" (an essay); Virginia Woolf, "The Mark on the Wall" (a short story); and "Modern Fiction" (an essay); James Joyce, "Araby" (a short story); D. H. Lawrence, “Odour of Chrysanthemums” (a short story). Week 2 (21 October): Modern British drama, war poets; Readings: G.B. Shaw, Mrs Warren's Profession - Act IV (an excerpt from a play); John Osborne, Look Back in Anger (a play); Siegfried Sassoon, "Absolution", "'They'", "Conscripts" (poems); Wilfred Owen, "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Miners" (poems); David Jones, from "Preface" (an essay). Week 3 (4 November): Post-war novel, Angry Young Men; Readings: George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four (a novel); Kingsley Amis: from Lucky Jim (an excerpt from a novel); Graham Greene: "The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen" (a short story); David Lodge: "The Novelist at the Crossroads" (an essay). Week 4 (2 December): Beyond Realism, new historical fiction, post-modern challenges; Readings: A. S. Byatt: Possession: A Romance (a novel); Doris Lessing, "To Room Nineteen" (a short story); David Lodge, "The novelist today: still at the crossroad?" (an essay). Week 5 (12 December): Multicultural writing, feminism, plurality of voices; Readings: Hanif Kureishi: The Buddha of Suburbia (a novel); Fay Weldon, "Weekend" (a short story); Salman Rushdie, "'Commonwealth Literature' Does Not Exist" (an essay).
Literature
    required literature
  • CARTER, Ronald and John MCRAE. The Routledge history of literature in English: Britain and Ireland. Edited by Malcolm Bradbury. London: Routledge, 1997, xix, 592. ISBN 0415123437. info
  • The Norton anthology of English literature. Edited by M. H. Abrams. 5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1986, xlvi, 2578. ISBN 0393954722. info
    recommended literature
  • BRANNIGAN, John. Orwell to the present : literature in England, 1945-2000. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, x, 244 s. ISBN 0-333-69616-6. info
  • HILSKÝ, Martin. Současný britský román. [Jinočany]: H & H, 1992, 191 s. ISBN 80-85467-00-3. info
  • FRANKOVÁ, Milada. Britské spisovatelky na konci tisíciletí (British Women Writers at the End of the Millennium). 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita v Brně, 1999, 206 pp. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, FF, č. 325. ISBN 80-210-2148-9. info
  • FRANKOVÁ, Milada. Britské spisovatelky na přelomu tisíciletí (British Women Writers at the Turn of the Millennium). Brno: Masarykova univerzita v Brně, 2003. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, 347. ISBN 80-210-3290-1. info
  • MASSIE, Allan. The novel today : a critical guide to the British novel, 1970-1989. London: Longman, 1990, vi, 97. ISBN 0582004071. info
  • STŘÍBRNÝ, Zdeněk. Dějiny anglické literatury. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1987, s. 421-837. info
  • The novel today :contemporary writers on modern fiction. Edited by Malcolm Bradbury. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1977, 256 s. ISBN 0-7190-0677-5. info
Assessment methods
class participation (10%), 4 response papers (25%), a home-written test (25%), final essay (40%)
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
General note: This course is NOT designated for Erasmus students! List of courses offerd by the Department of English and American studies for Erasmsus students is available at http://www.phil.muni.cz/wkaa/ under "Information for Erasmus students".
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: This course is NOT designated for Erasmus students! List of courses offerd by the Department of English and American studies for Erasmsus students is available at http://www.phil.muni.cz/wkaa/ under "Information for Erasmus students".
Teacher's information
http://www.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/category.php?id=4
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2004, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2016.
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