Research on the Literature and Culture of the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: Critical Discourses and Methods 1500-SDN-LIKPPXIXWWB
Participants will become acquainted with the critical discourses and methodologies employed in research on Romanticism and, more broadly, on the literature of the first half of the nineteenth century. Rather than providing a systematic survey of the major approaches in the field, the course explores the scholarly, social, cultural, and political impulses that have shaped particular critical discourses and, consequently, strategies for interpreting literary texts. The syllabus includes selected studies published from the post-war period, through the era of the Polish People's Republic and the political transformation of the late twentieth century, to the present day.
Romanticism offers a particularly interesting case study because of its close entanglement with debates on national culture. Across successive decades and historical periods, significant shifts in critical orientation can be observed, with increasing attention devoted to issues such as social inequality, national identity, the ecological crisis, and other pressing concerns. These shifts make it possible to identify the kinds of reading practices that were privileged in particular historical moments.
Together with the teacher, participants will discuss the assumptions underlying different schools of criticism and assess their analytical usefulness through close readings of selected literary texts. Each class will pair an excerpt from a critical study (see the reading list) with an appropriate literary text from the Romantic period. The sessions will be organized in three stages: a presentation by one of the participants, followed by a discussion of the assigned critical text, and concluding with an analysis of the literary work.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Knowledge (students know and understand):
● WG_01 — contemporary trends in research on Romanticism, including their entanglement in historical and cultural contexts, at a level that enables the critical revision of existing paradigms.
● WG_03 — methodologies and conceptual categories relevant to research on Romanticism.
● WK_01 — fundamental dilemmas of contemporary civilization as encoded in Romantic literature and in scholarly approaches to Romanticism.
Skills (students are able to):
● K_U01 — communicate on specialized topics at a level that enables active participation in debates on the Romantic tradition and the social functioning of Romantic texts.
● UW_01 — apply knowledge of contemporary trends in Romantic studies and the social reception of Romanticism in order to engage in a creative and critical reassessment of the Romantic legacy.
● Social competences (students are prepared to):
● KK_03 — recognize the priority of knowledge when confronting problems related to the contemporary reception of Romanticism.
Assessment criteria
A maximum of two absences; participation and active engagement in class; delivery of a short presentation; submission of a short essay (approximately 3 pages) addressing a selected topic related to the course themes.
Bibliography
The reading list below is intended as a preliminary selection. The readings for each session will be agreed upon jointly by the teacher and the course participants. Selected excerpts from the works listed below will be assigned and discussed alongside literary texts from the Romantic period.
W. Kubacki, Pierwiosnki polskiego romantyzmu, Kraków 1949
S. Żółkiewski, Spór o Mickiewicza, Wrocław 1952
M. Janion, Romantyzm, rewolucja, marksizm, Gdańsk 1972
Z. Stefanowska, Próba zdrowego rozumu, Warszawa 1976
M. Piwińska, Złe wychowanie, Warszawa 1981
J.M. Rymkiewicz, Żmut, Paryż 1987
Nasze pojedynki o romantyzm, ed. D. Siwicka, M. Bieńczyk, Warszawa 1995
M. Janion, Kobiety i duch inności, Warszawa 2006
M. Janion, Niesamowita Słowiańszczyzna, Kraków 2006
Romantyzm i nowoczesność, ed. M. Kuziak, Kraków 2009
M. Kuziak, Inny Mickiewicz, Gdańsk 2013.
T. Plata, Pośmiertne życie romantyzmu, Warszawa 2017.
Romantyzm środkowoeuropejski w kontekście postkolonialnym, vol. I, ed. M. Kuziak, B. Nawrocki, Warszawa 2016
K. Czeczot, M. Pospiszyl, Romantyczny antykapitalizm, Warszawa 2018.
W. Hamerski, Romantyczne „kuźnie natury” w perspektywie ekokrytyki, „Porównania” 2021, no 29.