BA_11 The Old Literature of Lithuania

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2021
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mag. Vaidas Šeferis, Dr. phil. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jan-Marek Šík, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mag. Vaidas Šeferis, Dr. phil.
Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 12:00–13:40 B2.24
Prerequisites
The course is primarily designed for students of full-time Baltic studies, but as an optional subject is open to anyone interested.
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
This course gives a survey of the Lithuanian literature from middle ages to the 19th century. It focuses on the prominent Lithuanian texts as well as on non-Lthuanian (Ruthenian, Polish and Latin) texts from former Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students should be able to:
- understand and explain the religious diversity of the Lithuanian culture;
- understand and explain multi-lingual character of the Lithuanian literature
- characterize main historical periods of Lithuanian literature (such as reformation, renaissance, baroque, romanticism)
- understand the most-important text of Lithuanian literature from the middle ages to the 19th century.
Syllabus
  • The oral culture in Lithuania and its historical significance, examples of Lithuanian folk-songs.
  • The beginning of the written word in Lithuania: the Latin letters of the King Mindaugas and the Grand Duke Gediminas.
  • First handwritten monuments in the Lithuanian language.
  • First Lithuanian printed book. A detailed analysis of Mažvydas's "Catechism" of 1547.
  • The religious concurrence of Reformation and Catholicism, and its influence on the development of Lithuanian literature.
  • Jesuits and their publishing activities. A detailed analysis of Daukša's 'Postilla" of 1599.
  • The Ruthenian language and its significance in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lithuanian statutes, Lithuanian Metricks (i.e. the archive of the Grand Duke court), Skaryna and his publishing activities.
  • Masterpieces of the old Lithuanian literature: Donelaitis and his epos "Metai" (The Seasons)
  • Masterpieces of the old Lithuanian literature: Baranauskas and his "Anykščių šilelis" (The forest of Anykščiai).
  • Prominent personalities and texts of the Lithuanian national revival.
Literature
    required literature
  • BERESNEVIČIŪTĖ-NOSÁLOVÁ, Halina. Litva. 1. vyd. Praha: Libri, 2006, 190 s. ISBN 8072773003. info
  • Antanas Baranauskas, "Anykščių šilelis" (přeložila Eva Křivánková, rukopis na vyžádání)
  • Martynas Mažvydas and Old Lithuania (collection of papers), Vilnius 1998
  • Kristijonas Donelaitis, Roční doby, Praha 1960
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas and Petra HEBEDOVÁ. Středověké písemnictví v Pobaltí (Medieval Literature in the Baltic). In Jan, Libor; Kostrhun Petr; Nerudová, Zdeňka. Svět tajemných Baltů. The World of the Mysterious Balts. 1st ed. Brno: Moravské zemské muzeum, 2013, p. 201-213. ISBN 978-80-7028-414-8. info
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas. Jonas Basanavičius v Praze 1882-1884 - Jonas Basanavičius Prahoje 1882-1884 (Jonas Basanavičius in Prague 1882-1884). Studia territorialia. Praha: Karolinum, 2012, roč. II, č. 1, p. 43-64. ISSN 1804-4247. URL info
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas. Recepce díla Kristijonase Donelaitise v českých zemích (The Reception of Donelaitis' Work in Czech Lands). In Baltské jazyky v proměnách metod. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2008, p. 63-77. ISBN 978-80-210-4623-8. info
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas and Vaida KNABIKAITE. Z dějin litevské stylistiky (A Survey of the History of the Lithuanian Stylistics). Slovo a slovesnost. Praha: Akademie věd ČR, ÚJČ, 2004, vol. 2006, No 67, p. 120-145, 25 pp. ISSN 0037-7031. info
    recommended literature
  • ŠVEC, Luboš, Vladimír MACURA and Pavel ŠTOL. Dějiny pobaltských zemí. Praha: Lidové noviny, 1996, 423 s. ISBN 80-7106-154-9. info
  • Z. Kiaupa, The History of Lithuania, Vilnius 2002
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas. The Borderland between Conflicting Canons : Kristijonas Donelaitis. In Kučinskiené, Aisté; Šeina, Viktorija; Speičyté, Brigita. Literary Canon Formation as Nation-Building in Central Europe and the Baltics : 19th to Early 20th Century. Leiden: Brill, 2021, p. 230-255. ISBN 978-90-04-39839-9. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004457713_015. Conference Paper Abstracts info
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas. Kristijonas Donelaitis a jeho "Metai" : hledání koheze (Kristijonas Donelaitis a jeho "Metai" : in the search of cohesion). In Videopřednáška. 2020. Kompletní záznam videopřednášky info
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas. Kristijono Donelaičio metų rišlumas : monografija. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2014, 338 s. ISBN 9786094251344. info
  • ŠEFERIS, Vaidas. Karel Janáček. Přízvukování u Donalitia : Donelaičio kirčiavimas (Karel Janáček. Donalitius' Accentuation). 1st ed. Brno: Neuveden, 2009, 248 pp. ISBN 978-80-7399-896-7. info
  • SLABIHOUDOVÁ, Naděžda, Alena VLČKOVÁ and Pavel ŠTOLL. Slovník pobaltských spisovatelů : estonská, litevská a lotyšská literatura. 1. vyd. Praha: Libri, 2003, 293 s. ISBN 8072771817. info
  • WANDYCZ, Piotr S. Střední Evropa v dějinách : od středověku do současnosti : cena svobody. Translated by Jaroslav Valenta. Vydání 1. Praha: Academia, 1998, 301 stran. ISBN 8020006575. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, reading and interpretation; presentations
Assessment methods
Written examination aimed at testing the student’s insight into the main theories, concepts and methodologies of the discipline, or in the work of the main representatives of the scholarly discourse, and at checking the student’s ability to connect relevant facts into logical relations.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2021/BA_11