English Literature - Lecture

obligatory courses

The aim of this lecture series is to familiarize students with the diachronic and synchronic description of British literature through a presentation of major literary periods, currents, styles, genre conventions, and writers as well as an elucidation of important aesthetic, philosophical, and cultural concepts shaping literature.

This is a series of lectures running parallel to weekly classes in which some of the key works of British literature are read and discussed. While the classes are built around readings and discussions of selected texts, the lectures are intended to provide a broader background to those readings and discussions by elucidating the literary currents, conventions, topoi, types of heroes, and writing styles, as well as the key cultural concepts and developments pertaining to each historical period. The primary aim is to demonstrate how British literature has evolved in time from its beginnings in the context of Anglo-Saxon monastic culture, through a succession of epochs, up to the present moment. Concerning the epochs preceding the Romanticism, the aim of the lectures is to elucidate the key mental concepts underlying literature of the distant past, such as oral versus literate and print culture, or the microcosm versus the macrocosm. The analysis of the so-called long 19th century and 20th century will focus on the evolution in aesthetics and genology brought about by significant social and philosophical changes. The lectures will conclude with the panoramic view of the present of the literature of the British Isles seen against a broader context of the transformations of the modern world.

A selection of chapters from: Michael Aleksander A History of English Literature, Macmillan 2013 (or earlier edition)

Pat Rogers The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature, Oxford 2001 (or earlier edition)

Having completed the course, students will acquire and/or develop the skills, knowledge and competence in the following areas:

Knowledge

Student will be able to:

K_W01 identify the place and specificity of English Studies against the background of other academic disciplines within the humanities

K_W02 understand key terminology, well established methods and theories of literary studies within English studies, discussed during lectures

K_W04 describe the relation between language, literature, and historical and cultural processes on an advanced level, discussed during lectures

Abilities

Student will be able to:

K_U01 employ the terminology and methodological tools from literary studies, e.g. epic, romance, mock-heroic, Romanticism, the sublime, realism, dramatic monologue, modernism, postmodern literature, etc.

K_U03 analyze literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis with respect to the social, historical and economic context

Social competences

Student will be able to:

K_K03 value responsibility for one’s own work and respect the work of others (academic integrity), adhering to the professional and ethical norms in various projects and other activities undertaken at work, voluntary services, etc.

K_K06 value cultural heritage and cultural diversity

Written test.

The form of the retake to be decided by the lecturer.