Syllabus
We will be selecting works from the following list (other works may be considered as well). We may look at more than one translation if several are available.
K. H. Mácha: One canto from May. [Poem]
K. J. Erben: One poem from A Bouquet [Poem]
Jan Neruda: One short story from Tales of the Little Quarter
Karel Čapek: [To be decided]
Vladislav Vančura: Extracts from Summer of Caprice [Short novel]
Josef Škvorecký: Extracts from The Cowards [Novel]
Bohumil Hrabal: Either an extract from Closely Observed Trains [Novel] or a short story, e.g. Palaverers
Ludvík Vaculík: Extract from The Guinea Pigs [Novel]
Ota Pavel: The Golden Eels [Short Story]
Jan Balabán: [Short story, to be decided]
Annotation
This is a new course intended for foreign students studying in the Czech Republic who would like to learn more about Czech literature, culture and (some) history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. No knowledge of Czech is assumed or required for this course.
We will study a cross-section of some of the most important works of Czech literature (poems, short stories and extracts from novels) from a variety of authors including K. H.
Mácha, K. J.
Erben, Jan Neruda, Karel Čapek, Vladislav Vančura, Josef Škvorecký, Bohumil Hrabal, Ota Pavel, and others if we have time. All the works we study are available in English translation, and where possible are chosen so that students can read not just the examples we study in class, but also other works by each author, with a better understanding of historical and literary context.