Contemporary Literary and Cultural Discourses in Central Europe 03-AP-CLCD
Course learning content:
- explaining and briefly describing the history of the concept of Central Europe, diversity in its definition and its delimiting; Central Europe - between geography and history; “Maximum of diversity at the minimum of area” - an attempt of defining Central Europe; Where does the Central Europe lie? Europe of fading borders,
- presentation of the culture or traditions of Central Europe and historical, geopolitical, national, transnational, literary context of its existence; Central European cities – Central European cultural centers; What is he like and whether exists „homo Europae centralis”?; Central Europe – a view from the outside,
- presentation of the culture or traditions of Central Europe and historical, geopolitical, national, transnational, literary context of its existence; the role of the Greco-Roman tradition in „shaping” Central European culture; Central Europen Enlightement traditions,
- discussion on the social and political phenomena that determine the shape of literature and culture of selected Central European countries (in the past and currently). Between the Middle Ages and the 18th century; „Reviving” Europe; Central Europe in the context of World War I; Central Europe in the context of World War II; Central Europe in the context of Holocaust; Central Europe – „an island in a sea of communism”? Postwar experience; Central Europe - the space formed by dissidents and writers?.
Module learning aims
Methods of teaching for learning outcomes achievement
Student workload (ECTS credits)
Module type
(in Polish) Sylabus zajęć
Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course, a student will be able to:
- define and describe main conceptions about Central Europe,
- specify a place of Central European literature and culture in a wider European context,
- relate and compare different literary, historical, cultural, political and social phenomenon, motivate their influence on the form of modern Central European culture and particular regional states; student construes chosen works, literary or artistic visions according to historical and literary context,
- build coherent, critical comment (written or spoken) on the subject of Central Europe, can find adequate sources of information, competently and functionally use knowledge from lectures and other sources,
- justify his/her interpretations, develop them and resolve them within the group; can recapitulate his/her experience of reading,
- compile knowledge gained during the classes, develop, clarify and reconstruct the phenomenon of cultural and literary history,
- understand other cultures on the basis of the knowledge obtained; he is aware of the historical, political and cultural circumstances influencing artistic creations.
Assessment criteria
Assessment criteria:
very good (bdb; 5,0): the student passively and actively uses extensive vocabulary related to the issues of contemporary literary and cultural discourses in Central Europe, defines the most important concepts in these areas of knowledge in terms of their language skills, is able to prepare a very good presentation, defining the most important difficulties arising from the problems of intercultural dialogue.
good plus (+db; 4,5): as above, with slight lapses in the ability to define the above-mentioned terms.
good (db; 4,0): the student passively and actively uses the vocabulary related to the issues of contemporary literary and cultural discourses in Central Europe, is able to define selected concepts in these areas of knowledge, is able to prepare a good presentation, defining the most important difficulties arising from the problems of intercultural dialogue.
satisfactory plus (+dst; 3,5): the student satisfactorily knows the basic vocabulary in the field of contemporary literary and cultural discourses in Central Europe, understands the concepts of these areas of knowledge, is able to prepare a presentation in the field of intercultural dialogue.
satisfactory (dst; 3,0): the student knows basic vocabulary in the field of contemporary literary and cultural discourses in Central Europe, understands the concepts of these areas of knowledge and is able to prepare a simple presentation on intercultural dialogue.
unsatisfactory (ndst; 2,0): the student has insufficient knowledge of the vocabulary in the field of contemporary literary and cultural discourses in Central Europe, does not understand the concepts of these knowledge and is unable to prepare a presentation on intercultural dialogue.
Bibliography
Reading list:
Ash, T.G. (1999). The Uses of Adversity. Essays on the Fate of Central Europe. London: Penguin Books.
Ash, T.G. (2009). Facts are subversive. Political Writing from a Decade Without a Name. New Heven– London: Yale University Press.
Baár, M. (2010). Historians and Nationalizm. East-Central Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Oxford–New York: Oxford University Press.
Čepič, Z. (ed.) (2008). 1945 – A Break with the Past. A History of Central European Countries at the End of World War Two. Ljubljana: Institute for Contemporary History.
Chosen number of periodical “Herito” – a bilingual English-Polish quarterly on Central European heritage and culture published by the International Cultural Centre (http://www.herito.pl/en).
Dolański, D., Pufelska, A. (eds.) (2012). Notions of the Self. The Search for Identity in the East Central Europe in the 18th Century. Zielona Góra–Potsdam: Oficyna Wydawnicza Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego.
Pudłocki, T., Ruszała K. (eds.) (2018). Intellectuals and World War I. A Central European Perspective. Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press.
Riedel, R. (ed.) (2010). Central Europe. Two Decades After. Warsaw: Centre for Europe (University of Warsaw) and Institute of Political Science (Opole University).
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: