Syllabus
1. Introduction - formal aspects, definition of culture, Central Europe and the studied time period
2. WWII and its cultural reflexion
3. Collective memory and the WWII – example of Katyn massacre
4. Cultural aspects of the postwar reconstruction of the society
5. Philosophy in the 2nd half of the 20the century and its reception in culture
6. Urbanism and architecture in the 2nd half of the 20th century
7. New Wave – cultural phenomenon of the 1960s
8. The year 1968 – Paris or Prague?
9. Sport as a measure of organization of the society
10. Protest (antisystem) movements in the West and in the East
11. Remembering the communist regimes – example of "Ostalgie" in the GDR
12. Wrap-up and conclusion
Annotation
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the cultural developments in Central Europe in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Topics from the seminar cover widely understood the definition of culture as a social landscape, alternative to politics.
From artistic point of view, the course aims at literature, to a smaller extent film, photography or architecture. On the example of cultural environment, students can investigate fundamental changes of the Central European society from the experience, reception, and reflexion of the WWII, through the "kidnapping" of Central Europe to the Soviet Union's sphere of influence to the events from 1989/1990.
The course presents the topics in a non-descriptive manner on selected key topics from culture and arts.