AJL54501 Topics in Literature: Contemporary Anglo-American Literature for Children and Youth

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Filip Krajník, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, 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
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 aim of the course is to introduce and discuss selected topics from contemporary Anglo-American literature for children and young adults. A special interest will be given to recent trends in children's literature, such as the depiction of violence and death, the interest in the macabre, and (post)modern re-tellings of classical stories.
Learning outcomes
Students will be introduced to the specifics of literary genres fro children and young adults. Students will learn to read critically, and reflect upon, genre literature and, subsequently, apply these skills in other courses or spheres of literary studies. Students will gain a broader literary context for other literary course.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction 2. Folk Fairy-Tales and their Afterlife (I): the Grimm Brothers, Charles Perrault, Walt Disney's adaptations of classical stories, Neil Gaiman's (post)modern renditions 3. Folk Fairy-Tales and their Afterlife (II): the Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Neil Gaiman's and Laura Dockrill's re-tellings 4. William Shakespeare Retold (I): pre-Victorian, Victorian and Edwardian re-tellings of Shakespeare's Stories 5. William Shakespeare Retold (II): modern feministic re-tellings of Shakespeare's Hamlet (Mary Cowden Clarke, Lisa Klein, Lisa Fiedler) 6. Reading Week 7. Death in Juvenile Literature (I): the beginnings of "new realism" of the 1960s and 1670s 8. Death in Juvenile Literature (II): post-2000 treatment of death in literature for children and young adults 9. Macabre in Children's Literature: Tim Burton, Roald Dahl et al. 10. No Class 11. "I once kicked a seagull": Laura Dockrill's Darcy Burdock as an Example of Pseudo-Authentic Text 12. Beyond Wonderland: Alice and her afterlife in 20th and 21st century literature 13. Children's Literature Not So Much for Children: re-tellings of children's classics for adult audiences
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Contemporary children's literature and film : engaging with theory. Edited by Kerry Mallan - Clare Bradford. 1st publ. Basinstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, viii, 188. ISBN 9780230231504. info
  • Children's literature. Edited by M. O. Grenby. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008, xxii, 232. ISBN 9780748622740. info
  • Children's literature in English at the turn of the millennium : selected papers and workshops from the First and Second International Biennial Conferences on Children's literature in English. Edited by Bohuslav Mánek - Ralph Slayton - Pavla Machová. Hradec Králové: Gaudeamus, 2002, 235 s. ISBN 8070419407. info
  • HUNT, Peter. An introduction to children's literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, viii, 241. ISBN 9780192892430. info
  • HUNT, Peter. An introduction to children's literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, viii, 241. ISBN 9780192892430. info
  • A garland from the golden age : an anthology of children's literature from 1850 to 1900. Edited by Patricia Demers. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1983, xiv, 508. ISBN 0195404149. info
Teaching methods
Semminar and home reading.
Assessment methods
In-class discussion of materials read at home; writing short response papers (one per each class); final essay.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught every other week.
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".
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