The Prague Linguistic Circle in the context of structural poetics of the 1960s and 1970s 1500-SI-PKLWKPSL6070

Presentation of the development of linguistic structuralism by the Prague Linguistic Circle, which expanded on Ferdinand de Saussure’s ideas by emphasizing the analysis of language as a system of functional relations and oppositions.
● Introduction to the fundamentals of the functional model of language developed by Roman Jakobson, in which each linguistic unit fulfills a specific role within the communication system.
● Exploration of the structural aesthetics of Jan Mukařovský, who introduced the concepts of aesthetic function and normativity into the analysis of literature as both a linguistic and cultural system.
The influence of the Prague Linguistic Circle on the development of semiotics and aesthetics, as well as its contribution to the interdisciplinary approach to language, which serves as a foundation for later theories, including those of Barthes, Eco, Chomsky, and for poststructuralism.
● Introduction to Roland Barthes' theory of myth as a semiotic system, in which he develops the concept of myth as a second level of meaning, where the sign becomes a carrier of ideology.
Main assumptions of M. Foucault, especially in the works "History of Madness", "History of Sexuality" (selected issues).
● M. Foucault "To supervise and to punish" on the example of medicalization of antisocial behavior in M. Forman's film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
● The image of "La Meninas" by Velazquez as a mirror of the episteme of classicism (based on M. Foucault "Words and Things. Archaeology of the Humanities").
● "Disciplinary power" and "power of knowledge" hidden in museums (based on the essays of M. Foucault, as well as Václav Bělohradský).
● "Death of the author" in the concepts of R. Barthes, M. Foucault, M. Kundera. Autofiction – a game with the author's identity as a result of the position in Milan Kundera's text (based on the novel "Immortality").
● Cultural Artifacts as Open Works in the Writings of Umberto Eco (analyses of novels such as The Count of Monte Cristo, Anna Karenina; paintings by Giorgio de Chirico and René Magritte; films such as Casablanca by M. Curtiz, Medea by P.P. Pasolini, and others).

● Poststructuralism and Psychoanalysis: The History of Sexuality as a Freudo-Marxist Counter-Discourse (Michel Foucault, Didier Eribon).
● Louis Althusser's Interpellations Illustrated Through Film: Fight Club (dir. D. Fincher), Black Swan (dir. D. Aronofsky), Toy Story – Buzz Lightyear (Disney-Pixar, 1995).
● The Myth of Medusa and HERstory in Feminist Discourse (Hélène Cixous, Sonia Kisza).
● Julia Kristeva and Her Concept of the Abject: Purity and Impurity in The Book of Leviticus (based on Kristeva’s Powers of Horror). The Mythological Figure of the Minotaur as an Abject Entity (analyzed through novels, including Madeline Miller’s Circe, optionally).
● Deconstructing Mechanisms of Power in the Artistic Work of Andrea Fraser – a representative of institutional critique (based on the exhibition at the National Gallery of Art "Zachęta", March–June 2025, and other audiovisual materials).
● The Myth of the White Unicorn in Postmodern Perspective, based on cultural texts (U. Eco’s Baudolino, The Annunciation Polyptych with a Unicorn at the National Museum in Warsaw, the film Materialists, 2025, dir. Celine Song, and the use of the term in business strategy concepts).
● The Architecture of Power – architecture as a symbolic medium of domination over space (The Conformist, dir. B. Bertolucci; the exhibition Saxon Visions at the Royal Castle, April–July 2025; Warsaw courthouse buildings; contemporary Warsaw architecture – the University of Warsaw Library).
● Music as Myth – analysis of Mozart's operas, including recent stagings (Salzburg 2023 – The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Martin Kušej, with Krzysztof Bączyk as Figaro, [optional]).
● The Logic of Sensation – Bacon's painting according to Deleuze: motifs of flesh, skin, and movement (body without organs, optional).
● Language as Power – analysis of The Seventh Function of Language as a pastiche of noir crime fiction, semiotic labyrinth, and metafictional novel. Course summary.