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/N006
Organizational form of instruction Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study 1
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
Lecturer(s)
  • Hrdličková Jana, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
  • Jehličková Jarmila, Mgr.
Course content
1. An interest in folklore of both the nations in the Enlightenment: Johann Gottfried Herder 2.-3. A The Picture of Bohemia in German classical period: Goethe's stays in Bohemian spas/health resorts and his picture of Bohemian landscape, soul and female ideal (Ulrike von Levetzow); Shiller´s view of Bohemia (Die Räuber) 4.-5. The Role of Bohemian mythology and the idealized picture of Prague in the period of German Romanticism: Clemens Brentano (Die Gründung Prags; Eduard Mörike (Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag) 6.-7. Bohemian themes in Austrian dramatic works in the Biedermeier and Vormärz period: Franz Grillparzer (König Ottokars Glück und Ende); Johannes Nepomuk Nestroy (Eisenbahnheiraten) 8.-10. Bohemia in the mirror of realistic and naturalist travel literature: Theodor Fontane (Reisebriefe aus Karlsbad, Schloss Eger), Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (In Eger); Johann Gottfried Seume (Auf den Straßen Böhmens); The Silesian circle around Gerhart Hauptmann (Hermann Stehr, Johannes M. Avenarius) 11.-12. Czech themes in the works of the 1st half of the 20th century: The picture of Czech national Enlightenment and the figure of Karel Sabina in the novel Die verkaufte Braut by Max Brod; Robert Musil - the Austrian author with a strong relationship to Moravia 13. Lidice - the place commemorating the Czech tragedy - Poetry: Franz Fühmann, František Halas, Jiří Václav Svoboda, Karel Šiktanc, Jaroslav Seifert, Viktor Fischl 14. Lidice - the place commemorating Czech tragedies - fiction: Distortion of historical facts in Heinrich Mann´s novel Lidice, Bäte Ludwig, František Křelina

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
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.
Students -can analyse and interpret literary texts with respect to Czech themes and motifs; -deepen their knowledge of literature written in the German language in the Czech-German intercultural and inter-disciplinary context; -can develop their interpretative and argumentative abilities based on the study of primary and secondary literature.
Prerequisites
None

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
Credit requirements -Active participation in the seminars based on reading works of primary literature as well as studying recommended literature. -By an oral presentation of the selected theme and taking part in the discussion, the students´ ability of interpreting literary works in the wider cultural and historical context from the Czech-German inter-cultural point of view is tested.
Recommended literature
  • Brentano, C. Die Gründung Prags. Berlin, 2010.
  • Bruno Brandl. Liebe zu Böhmen. Ein Land im Spiegel deutschsprachiger Dichtung. Berlin, 1990.
  • Grillparzer, F. König Ottokars Glück und Ende. Stuttgart, 1986.
  • Mann, H. Lidice. Berlin, 1984.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester