Course: Czech Themes and Motifs in the German-language Literature of the 18th and 19th centuries

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Course title Czech Themes and Motifs in the German-language Literature of the 18th and 19th centuries
Course code KGER/0844
Organizational form of instruction Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 3
Language of instruction German
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Jehličková Jarmila, Mgr.
Course content
A An interest in folklore of both the nations in the Enlightenment 1. Johann Gottfried Herder: Stimmen der Völker in Liedern - Slawische Völker. B The Picture of Bohemia in German classical period 1. Goethe's stays in Bohemian spas/health resorts (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, and Teplice) and his picture of Bohemian landscape and soul. Work with diary notes from the years 1821-1823 (Tagebuchaufzeichnungen aus Böhmen 1821-1823). Goethe's female ideal, his relationship to Ulrika von Levetzow - analysis and interpretation of the poetic composition Marienbader Elegie. 2. Shiller´s view of Bohemia as a place unknown and wild - analysis of his drama Die Räuber from the topographic and intercultural point of view C The Role of Bohemian mythology and the idealized picture of Prague in the period of German Romanticism 3. Analysis of the picture of Prague in the historic and Romantic drama Die Gründung Prags by Clemens Brentano. 4. Mozart's Prague in the novelette written by Eduard Mörike Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag. D Bohemian themes in Austrian dramatic works in the Biedermeier and Vormärz period 5. Dramatic works of Franz Grillparzer in relation to Czech themes (the mythic Princess Libuše, the Bohemian Prince Otokar II), interpretation of the drama König Ottokars Glück und Ende. 6. Johannes Nepomuk Nestroy: Eisenbahnheiraten. E Bohemia in the mirror of realistic and naturalist travel literature 7. Theodor Fontane: Reisebriefe aus Karlsbad, Schloss Eger. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach: In Eger. 8. Johann Gottfried Seume: Auf den Straßen Böhmens. 9. Allegiance to Czech aspirations and Bohemia in literature of German naturalism - the Silesian circle around Gerhart Hauptmann (Hermann Stehr: the novelette Gudnat, Mythen und Mähren, the fantastic short story Der Himmelsschlüssel. Eine Geschichte zwischen Himmel und Erde, Johannes M. Avenarius: the short story Heimat). F Czech themes in the works of the 1st half of the 20th century 10. The picture of Czech national Enlightenment and the figure of Karel Sabina in the novel Die verkaufte Braut by Max Brod. 11. Robert Musil - the Austrian author with a strong relationship to Moravia, especially to Brno. The analysis of topography of his first work Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless. 12. Lidice - the place commemorating the Czech tragedy - in literary albums of both German and Czech literature I - Poetry: The poem written by Franz Fühmann Im Museum von Lidice, Czech poetry contributing to the theme of Lidice tragedy (František Halas: Lidice, Jiří Václav Svoboda: Lidice, Karel Šiktanc: Heinovské noci, Jaroslav Seifert: Přilba hlíny/The Helmet with Earth), the poem Mrtvá ves (Das tote Dorf/The Dead Village) by Viktor Fischl. 13. Lidice - the place commemorating Czech tragedies - in literary albums of German and Czech literature II - fiction: Distortion of historical facts in Heinrich Mann´s novel Lidice, Bäte Ludwig: the short story Rosen nach Lidice, the character of a nameless German officer in the balladic fiction by František Křelina Každý své břímě.(Everybody His Own Burden)

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
This subject (course) is a thematic follow-up of the bachelor courses of "Czech-German Literary Relations" and "German Literature in the Czech Lands I and II", as well as the master study subject called "German-language Literature of the Early New Age in the Czech Lands". The composition of this course is diachronic, in particular from Neo-Classicism via significant cultural, historical and literary stages of the second half of the 18th century and the 19th century as far as the historical turning point in Europe, i.e. the year 1945. From individual stages of literary and historical development representative figures of literary and historical development are selected in the manner that will show the reflection of Czech literary themes and literary motifs in its richness. Students will pay attention to the selected aspects of Bohemian mythology, great persons Czech history and art, to Czech and Moravian topography and to those places of memory as seen with the eyes of German -writing authors. The course is thematically connected also with the restricted elective course "Figures of Czech history in German-language literature from the Neo-Classicism to Expressionism", which, by means of its overlapping and mutual complementation of the subject matter (the figure of Libuše in literature or the Wallenstein trilogy by Friedrich Schiller) makes the pieces of knowledge of this compulsory course richer
The core of this discipline rests in literary analyses and interpretations; with the student having a chance of extending his knowledge of German literature in the Czech-German intercultural and interdisciplinary context by working with primary and secondary literature. At the same time students can improve their interpretative and argumentative abilities in this course.
Prerequisites
none

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
Active participation in the seminars based on reading works of primary literature as well as studying recommended literature, oral presentation of the selected theme and taking part in the discussion test the students´ ability of interpreting literary works in the wider cultural and historical context from the Czech-German intercultural point of view.
Recommended literature
  • Ackermann, U./ Fritsch, W. Böhmen. Ein literarisches Porträt.. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1998.
  • Arnold, Heinz/ Zeidler, Hans (ed.). Uferdasein. Deutschsprachige Literatur in Böhmen. Bautzen, 1996.
  • Brandl, B. Liebe zu Böhmen. Ein Land im Spiegel deutschsprachiger Dichtung. Berlin: Verlag der Nation, 1990.
  • Gasseleder, K. Auf den Spuren Goethes in Böhmen. Handreichungen für eine literarische Reise. Berlin, 1999.
  • Křelina, František. Každý své břímě. Praha, 1990.
  • PEŘINA, Josef. Přehledné dějiny vztahů české a německo-české literatury v 19. století. Ústí nad Labem, 1996.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German Philology in the Czech-German Intercultural Context (A12) Category: Philological sciences 1 Recommended year of study:1, Recommended semester: Winter