Course: A Picture of Czechs, Austrians and Germans in Literature since 1918

« Back
Course title A Picture of Czechs, Austrians and Germans in Literature since 1918
Course code KGER/0850
Organizational form of instruction Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study 1
Semester Summer
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)
  • Hrdličková Jana, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
Survey of Topics: 1. Stereotypes about Czechs, Germans and Austrians at present and in the past, role of the media and art 2. Czechs in Prague German literature: i. Franz Werfel: "Barbara oder die Frömmigkeit" (1929) ii. Franz Werfel: "Der veruntreute Himmel" (1939) 3.-6. Czechs and Germans in "Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka" (1921-1923): Švejk vs. Brettschneider/Bullinger/Müller a) the book and Josef Lada´s illustration b) Brecht/Piscator: Schwejk-Inszenierung (1927) c) Brecht: Schwejk im Zweiten Weltkrieg (1941-44) d) Karel Steklý (film director): Dobrý voják Švejk (Czech republic , 1956; starring Rudolf Hrušínský) 7. Karel Čapek: "Válka s mloky" (1935) 8. Arnošt Lustig: "Démanty noci" (1958) 9. Ingeborg Bachmann: "Böhmen liegt am Meer" (1964) 10. Ivan Kraus: "Pan vrah"(1996) 11. Dagmar Knöpfelová (film derector): "Durch diese Nacht sehe ich keinen einzigen Stern" (2005); František Halas: "Naše paní Božena Němcová" (1940), Jaroslav Seifert: Vějíř Boženy Němcové (1940) and "Píseň o Viktorce" (1950) 12. Jaroslav Rudiš: "Nebe pod Berlínem" (2007) 13. Developmental trends and changes, their causes. Summary.

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
The Seminar is a follow up to the introductory course "Theory and Methods of Intercultural Research", in which the students get acquainted with basic instruments of the literary work analysis from the intercultural point of view (Bhabha, Amodeo), and on the historically focused course of "History of the Germans on the Czech Lands in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Further to the information and interpretative skills acquired in these courses, the students will focus on specific description/rendering of the phenomena which are, in terms of their national identity, "their own" or "somebody else´s". They will also focus on how these categories are expressed in selected works of German- and Czech-writing novelists in literature since 1918. They will not focus only on their analysis of stereotypes about Czechs, Austrians and Germans, but also on how these stereotypes' are changed in the course of transfer from one language into the other. The seminar will also focus on monitoring the developmental trends of the pictures of Czechs, Austrians and Germans in dependence on the 20th century turbulent political changes.
Training interpretation of literary texts, the work with films, training argumentation in the German language, perception of "my own" and "somebody else´s".
Prerequisites
none
KGER/0938

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
Active participation in seminars, oral presentation, a seminar paper (an essay)
Recommended literature
  • Čapek, Karel. Válka s mloky. Praha, 2010. ISBN 978-80-253-1078-6.
  • Džambo, Jozo. Die Slawen - deutsche und österreichische Zerbilder. München, 1997. ISBN 3-9805378-2-X.
  • Eder, Jürgen. Der subversive Schelm. Bertolt Brechts "Schwejk im Zweiten Weltkrieg". Ústí nad Labem, 2008. ISBN 978-80-7414-014-3.
  • Glettler, Monika. "České vlaštovky": o kojných a cihlářích ve Vídni. München, 1997. ISBN 3-9805378-2-X.
  • Gruša, Jiří. Das Lob der Vorurteile. München, 1991.
  • Hašek, Jaroslav. Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války. Praha, 1990. ISBN 80-202-0036-3.
  • Mecklenburg, Norbert. Imagologie: Grundaspekte und Beispielbereiche literarischer Bilder der Anderen. München, 2008. ISBN 978-3-89129-552-6.
  • Rudiš, Jaroslav. Nebe pod Berlínem. Praha, 2007. ISBN 978-80-85935-83-7.
  • Werfel, Franz. Der Tod des Kleinbürgers. Frankfurt am Main, 1993. ISBN 3-596-29451-7.
  • Werfel, Franz. Der veruntreute Himmel. Frankfurt am Main, 2005. ISBN 3-10-091038-9.


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: Summer