Cultural Codes of Europe

obligatory courses

The course aims at introducing students to these elements of European culture and European civilization, which have been transformed into a European cultural codes in historical processus.

The course aims at analysing the selected phenomena in European culture and the role they played in the formation and development, transformation and/or disappearance of European cultural codes. With the chronological perspective students discuss both those cultural elements that build cultural unity of Europe and the universal aspects of cultural codes, as well as those that often developed at the margins of main cultural narratives or in opposition to the leading trends of European culture and consequently, have designed its diversity expressed in the multiplicity of codes produced by centuries by ethnic, cultural, religious and national communities in Europe

The subject of the multidimensional analysis are selected aspects of the history of European culture and their influence on the formation and content of European cultural codes. The course will discuss selected phenomena in the field of material-artistic, institutional and social history of European civilization. They will be analysed from two angles. The first is the impact of these phenomena on the formation and development of European cultural codes. The second is the evolution of European culture and civilization under the influence of the cultural codes discussed during the classes.

• European culture and civilisation, European cultural codes - theoretical aspects.

• Culture and art of the times of cathedrals. Architecture, science and society.

• The influence of geographical discoveries on European culture and art.

• History of printing, books and reading in Europe.

• European cultural institutions and their role in shaping European cultural codes.

• From Erasmus Europe to Voltaire’s Europe - community of elites and European cultural codes XVI-XVIII centurie.

• If to Europe, it is with our Sarmatians. The problem of originality of Sarmatian culture and its place in the European cultural heritage.

• European musical culture and European cultural codes.

• The role of intellectuals and artists in European culture of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Student’s workload:

classes - 30 h

preparation for classes and written test - 30 h

altogether - 60 h

F.Braudel, Gramatyka cywilizacji, Warszawa 2006 (fragmenty).

K. Pomian, Niższe? Wyższe? Równe? Cywilizacja europejska wobec innych, w: Przegląd Historyczny, 2005, zeszyt 5, s. 391-401.

Wł. Tatarkiewicz, Parerga, Warszawa 1978.

Historia Europy, red J. Carpentier, Warszawa 1994. (fragmenty)

Cywilizacja europejska. Wykłady i eseje, red. M. Koźmiński, Warszawa 2004, (wybór).

N. Ferguson, Cywilizacja, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2013.

P. Rietbergen, Europa. Dzieje kultury, Warszawa, 2001.

P. Frankopan, Jedwabne szlaki. Nowa historia świata, Warszawa 2018.

D. Boorstin, Odkrywcy. Z dziejów ludzkich odkryć i wynalazków, Warszawa 1998.

D. Boorstin, Twórcy.Geniusze wyobraźni w dziejach świata, Warszawa 2002.

G. Duby, Czasy katedr. Sztuka i społeczeństwo 980-1420, Warszawa 1986. (fragmenty)

L. Rotter, Os starożytnej bazyliki do średniowiecznej katedry w: Czasy katedr, czasy uniwersytetów, red. W. Sajek, Lublin 2005.

K. Hudson, Książka. Najpotężniejszy przedmiot naszych czasów zbadany od deski do deski, Kraków 2017.

K. Pomian, Europa i jej narody, wyd. II poszerzone, Gdańsk 2004, s. 72-92.

T. Chrzanowski, Portret staropolski, Warszawa 1995.

K. Bockenheim, Dworek, kontusz, karabela, Wrocław 2004.

J. Tazbir, Kultura szlachecka w Polsce, Poznań 2002. (fragmenty)

P. Krakowski, Nacjonalizm i sztuka patriotyczna [w:] Nacjonalizm w sztuce i historii sztuki 1789-1950, Warszawa 1998.

M. Omilanowska, Nacjonalizm a style narodowe w architekturze europejskiej XIX i początku XX wieku, [w:] Nacjonalizm w sztuce i historii sztuki 1789-1950, Warszawa 1998.

J. Jedlicki, Jakiej cywilizacji Polacy potrzebują? Warszawa, 1988. (fragmenty)

Między Polską a światem. Od średniowiecza po lata II Wojny Światowej, red. M. Morka, P. Paszkiewicz, Warszawa 1993. (wybór).

M. Porębski, Granica współczesności, Warszawa 1989.

Słownik sztuki XX wieku, Warszawa 1998. (wybrane hasła).

B. Schaeffer, Dzieje muzyki, Warszawa 1983. (fragmenty).

After the completion of the course the student:

- understands the notion of European civilsation, European culture, cultural code and cultural heritage,

- is able to identify the process of creation and evolution of European cultural codes by using the examples from the different fields of art and culture;

- is able to interprete a single cultural phenomenon in the broad historical, social and political context;

- understands the impact of civilizational, social and cultural changes on the functionning and content of cultural codes in contemporary Europe.

Grading: class attendance (max. 2 absences) and active course participation (the obligatory knowledge of texts and articles provided by the lecturer), written test covering the materials and lectures discussed and presented to the students during the course.