Literature and Film

B.Sc. seminars

Basic knowledge concerning poetics, the history of film, film theory and the media will be useful.

Please note: the topics of the BA's theses may concern the relationship between literature and film, as well as literature and the media.

Classroom

During this seminar we will discuss the role of literary tradition in films (with a particular emphasise on Polish cinematography) and the media, especially the so-called „new media”.

Considering films as a collective product, we will discuss the categories of imagination and intertextuality and the means of creating film adaptations of literary works. The concept of film understood as an embodiment of the romantic myth of „synthesis of arts” will be subjected to a thorough analysis.

The study shall be conducted using selected examples of feature films, documentaries and cartoons (or other audiovisual works).

During this seminar we will discuss the role of literary tradition in films (with a particular emphasise on Polish cinematography) and the media, especially the so-called „new media”.

Considering films as a collective product, we will discuss the categories of imagination and intertextuality and the means of creating film adaptations of literary works. The concept of film understood as an embodiment of the romantic myth of „synthesis of arts” will be subjected to a thorough analysis.

The following issues will be discussed during the course:

- The origins of cinematography. Films viewed as an embodiment of the romantic myth of „synthesis of arts”.

- Films and the media. The media as a threat to culture. Prognosis.

- „Intertextual existence” of literary tradition among various cultural traditions, including different types of art

- The search for new epistemology as every film's main task, transgressing boundaries as its main topic

- The definition and role of imagination (especially romantic imagination) in the process of creation

- The epistemological meaning of imagination. The possibility of applying the category of imagination to film studies

- Films and literature viewed as tools of documenting reality

- Film characters and literary characters

- Film adaptations of literary works

- Films, literary tradition and their role in the age of new media

All cognitive tools and interpretation categories shall be applied to feature films, documentaries and cartoons (or other audiovisual works).

Selected Bibliography:

Daniel Arijon, Gramatyka języka filmowego, Warszawa 2008

Arystoteles, Poetyka, Wrocław 1983

David Bordwell, O historii stylu filmowego, Łódź 2019

David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Film art. Sztuka filmowa. Wprowadzenie, Warszawa 2014

Encyklopedia kina. Red. Tadeusz Lubelski, Kraków 2003

Europejskie manifesty kina. Wybór, wstęp i oprac. Andrzej Gwóźdź, Warszawa 2002

Film polski współcześnie: od głównego nurtu do eksperymentu. Red. Marta Giec, Artur Majer, Łódź 2021

Barbara Giza, Między literaturą a filmem. O scenariuszach filmowych Tadeusza Konwickiego, Warszawa 2007

Alicja Helman, Jacek Ostaszewski, Historia myśli filmowej, Gdańsk 2010

Małgorzata Hendrykowska, Kronika kinematografii polskiej 1895-2011, Poznań 2012

Marek Hendrykowski, Semiotyka ruchomych obrazów, Poznań 2014

Marek Hendrykowski, Współczesna adaptacja filmowa, Poznań 2014

Marek Hendrykowski, Scenariusz filmowy. Teoria i praktyka, Poznań 2016

Maria Janion, Odnawianie znaczeń, Kraków 1980

Maria Janion, Projekt krytyki fantazmatycznej. Szkice o egzystencjach ludzi i duchów, Warszawa 1991

Kino polskie w trzynastu sekwencjach. Red. Ewelina Nurczyńska-Fidelska, Kraków 2005

Andrzej Kołodyński, Konrad J. Zarębski, Słownik adaptacji filmowych, Bielsko Biała 2005

Krzysztof Kopczyński, Paradygmat polskiego romantyzmu w uniwersum filmowym, Kraków 2021

Rafał Koschany, Zamiast interpretacji. Między doświadczeniem kinematograficznym a rozumieniem filmu, Poznań 2017

Tadeusz Lubelski, Historia kina polskiego 1895-2014, Kraków 2015

Alexander Mackendrick, On Film-making. An Introduction to the Craft of the Director, New York 2005

Joseph V. Mascelli, 5 tajników warsztatu filmowego, Warszawa 2007

Bolesław Michałek, Film - sztuka w ewolucji, Warszawa 1975

James Monaco, How to Read a Film. The World of Moovies, Media, and Multimedia, New York-Oxford 2001

Jill Nelmes (ed.), An Introduction to Film Studies, London and New York 2001 (Institutions, Audiences and Technology, Approaches to Studying Film Texts, Genre Forms - Realism and Illusion)

Jerzy Płażewski, Język filmu, Warszawa 2008

Mirosław Przylipiak, Poetyka kina dokumentalnego, Gdańsk-Słupsk 2004

Michael Rabiger, Developing Story Ideas, Amsterdam 2006

Judith Weston, Reżyserowanie aktorów, Warszawa 2010

Jerzy Wójcik, Sztuka filmowa, Warszawa 2017

After completing the course, each student should be able to:

- tell the difference between adaptation and screen version

- describe the language of film

- list and describe texts required for producing a film

- recognise the role of text in film production

- understand the rules of film dramaturgy

- analyse a film scene

- analyse a film (especially from the perspective of the text)

- describe the relationship between literature, film and the media in contemporary culture

The participant proposes the scope and topic of the BA thesis, then prepares it and defends it - usually, as the experience of over 70 previous seminar participants shows - with a very good grade.

The classes are to be devoted to the analysis of selected examples, rather than theoretical discussions. Numerous film quotes (or even whole films) are to be used as examples.

Basis for evaluation:

1. Activate participation in all classes

2. Writting and submitting a BA thesis