Charles University, Faculty of Arts
East and Central European Studies
Fall 2016
American and Czech Literature from European
Perspectives: Identity and Role Play
CUFA LIT 326
Instructor:
Blanka Maderová, Ph.D.
Office Hours:
by appointment
Email:
[email protected]
Class Days/Time:
TBA
Classroom:
TBA
Course Description
The term "identity" is essential for any exploration of society, the self and its various roles in
literature and culture. However, it is difficult to pin down exactly what we mean by "identity."
As a way of tackling this tricky problem, we will question various conceptions of identity in
connection with the selected literary examples. We will examine the way in which identity is
construed in the 20th and 21st century. Is identity only a performance or role play? Or is there
an authentic, inner core to which we can refer? How do we approach the Other? In the course,
we will read and compare American and Czech authors from Melville to Kundera. European
obsession with construction, existence and structuring will be contrasted with the American
focus on transformation, movement and change. Among the specific topics that will be
covered are: formations of identity, power, confidence, racial and gender stereotypes,
"minority" vs. "mainstream" literature in Czech and American societies.
Course Goals and Student Learning Objectives
The objective of the course is to interpret American and Czech authors. Students will be
provided with an insight into the differences and affinities of Czech and American thought
concerning the creation of identities and role-play. On the one hand, focus will be placed on
reading strategies: How do texts reveal or produce identities? On the other hand, the course
will familiarize students with the canonical works of Czech and American provenience and
show their relation to contemporary literary and social theories. In-class discussions will be
based on the associations that identity, class, gender, faith, desire and their actual performance
provoke on personal, political, national and theoretical levels.
Required Readings
Readings for each class are specified in the course outline.
All texts will be available either in the Course Reader (R) or provided by the instructor.
Recommended readings can be found in the library of the Department of Anglophone
Literatures and Cultures (room 107, FFUK Main Building).
Recommended Readings
Friedrich Nietzsche, Joyful Wisdom. Ungar Pub Co, 1973. (Some portions are required for
individual course sessions; the remainder of the work is recommended.)
Jonathan Culler, Literary theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2000.
(Some portions are required for individual course sessions; the remainder of the work is
recommended.)
Gilles Deleuze, Essays Critical and Clinical. University of Minnesota Press, 1997.
G.Deleuze, F Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature. University of Minessota Press,
1986.
Goffman, Erving, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday, 1959.
Schechner, Richard. "What is Performance? " Performance Studies. Routledge, 2002. (Some
portions are required for individual course sessions; the remainder of the work is
recommended.
Classroom Procedures
For each class, readings are assigned. The specified readings are strictly required.
Each student shall give one short presentation (10-15 min.). Students will choose their topics
at the beginning of the course.
Mid-term paper: 4-6 page essay (1200-1800 words), MLA style. Full references of the
quotations (from primary and/or secondary texts) that you use shall be provided at the end in
the Works Cited section.
Final in-class test in the last session
Assignments and Grading Policy
Grades based on letters A through F will be given. ECES does not provide courses with
pass/fail grades.
Classification:
20 % presentation
20 % in-class performance
20% mid-term paper
40 % final test
Grades based on letters A through F will be given.
Attendance
Regular and punctual class attendance is mandatory for all students. Absence of 180 minutes
is allowed. Three or more absences (90 minutes each) lower the grade automatically (A to A-,
A to B+ in case of 4 absences etc.). Students must attend at least 70 % of the course. If a
student attends less than 70 % of the class meetings, he or she will receive the final grade 'F'
on their transcript.
Presentation Policy: Missing the presentation will result in an F (when applicable). If the
student wants to switch the date, he/she must find someone to do it and both students must
confirm the change in e-mails to the professor at least 10 days in advance. If the student is
sick and has a medical note, then the professor must agree with the student on how the work
will be made up for.
Final Test or Paper Policy: Completing the final test or paper is required. Failure to submit the
final test or paper according to the deadline will result in a letter grade F for the entire course.
For further details, please see the Attendance Policy at the ECES website under “Academic
Policies and Procedures”: http://eces.ff.cuni.cz/.
Student Responsibility and Code of Conduct (required)
Standards of study and conduct in the ECES Program are set and maintained. You are subject
to the general standards and requirements of Charles University in regard to attendance,
examinations, and conduct, as well as to specific requirements of the program. The student is
expected to assume the initiative in completing all requirements at the time specified.
It is the responsibility of the student to be informed concerning all regulations and procedures
required. In no case will a regulation be waived or an exception granted because a student
pleads ignorance of the regulation or asserts that he/she was not informed by an advisor or other
authority.
Charles University expects all students to adhere to the highest standards of ethics and academic
integrity. Students certify that all work (whether an examination, research paper, research
project, form of creative expression, or any other academic undertaking) submitted for
evaluation, presentation, or publication meets these standards.
All forms of academic fraud are strictly prohibited. An automatic grade of F will result for the
entire course if a student is found guilty of academic misconduct. These include, but are not
limited to:
•
Plagiarism
•
Cheating
•
Falsification
•
Violation of professional ethics
•
Misrepresentation or research data
Weekly Schedule
(the schedule is subject to change with a prior notice).
Week 1
1. Introduction: Conceptions of Identity in the 20th century Czech and American Literature
and Culture
Week 2
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson: the Self and Self-Reliance
2. Friedrich Nietzsche: the Self and Power in the European Context
Required Readings:
R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
R.W. Emerson, "Power"
Excerpts from F. Nietzsche, Joyful Wisdom (aka The Gay Science)
Week 3
1. Herman Melville: Bartleby, Deactivation and Social Constructions of Identity.
2. Gilles Deleuze: Identity and Pragmatism
Required Readings:
Melville: "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street"
Jonathan Culler, "Identity, Identification and the Subject"
Optional: Gilles Deleuze: "Bartleby, or the Formula"
Week 4
1. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Femininity and the Role of the Unconscious
2. Czech Surrealists, Kate Chopin and Personal Awakenings
Required Readings:
Ch. P. Gilman: "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Toyen (Marie Čermínová), printed by the instructor
Kate Chopin: "A Respectable Woman," "The Locket"
Optional: Judith Butler, chapter 4 from Bodies that Matter
FIELD TRIP: Surrealist literature and the Unconscious
Week 5
1. Ralph Ellison: Majority vs. Minority, Formation of Identity and Oppression
2. Ellison and the Other in African-American literature
Required Readings:
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (parts 1 and 2)
Week 6
1. Franz Kafka, the Self and Existentialism
2. Kafka: Conscience, Law and Void Identity
Required Readings:
Franz Kafka:The Trial (Part 1)
Franz Kafka: The Trial (Part 2, Chapter "In the Cathedral")
FIELD TRIP: Kafka Museum and exhibition
Week 7
1. Toni Morrison and Racial Codes
2. Romani Literature and Lyrics in the Czech context
Required Readings:
Toni Morrison, "Recitatif"
Ilona Ferkova, "The Rolling Pin"
MIDTERM DUE!
Week 8
1. Milan Kundera: Identity, Relationships, and the Dangers of Role-Play
2. Richard Schechner: Performance and Role-play
Required Readings:
Milan Kundera: "The Hitchhiking Game" in Laughable Loves;
Schechner, Richard: "What is Performance? " (printed by the instructor)
Week 9
1. Structure vs. Chaos: Don DeLillo
2. The 1960s in the US and Czechoslovakia
Required Readings:
Don DeLillo: White Noise (excerpt)
Bohumil Hrabal: Too Loud a Solitude
Milan Kundera, The Joke (excerpts)
Week 10
1. The Beat Generation: Transformation of Identity and the Self "on the road"
2. Czech Literature in the 1960s and 1970s: Charter 77 and Havel´s essays
Required Readings:
Jack Kerouac, On the Road (pp. 1-66)
Allan Ginsberg, "Howl" (poem)
Vaclav Havel, "Trial" and "The Power of the Powerless"
FIELD TRIP
Week 11
1. Vaclav Havel: Identity and the Absurd; Language Constructing Identity
2. European Structuralism: Jakobson, Saussure, Lakhovsky
Required Readings:
Vaclav Havel, The Garden Party
Week 12
1.Tennessee Williams: We are all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for
life
2. Multiple identity and sexuality
Required Readings:
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (provided by the instructur)
Week 13 - . Final Test (5 open-ended questions)