English Literature - Lecture 3301-L1ENLITW1
The lectures run parallel to weekly classes in which some of the key works of English literature are read and discussed. While the classes are built around readings and discussions of selected texts, the lectures are intended to provide a broader background to those readings and discussions by elucidating the literary currents, conventions, topoi, types of heroes, and writing styles, as well as the key cultural concepts and developments pertaining to each historical period (e.g. orality vs. literacy, verse vs. prose, types of verse, four elements and four humours, macrocosm vs. microcosm). The primary aim is to demonstrate how English literature evolved in time from its beginnings in the context of Anglo-Saxon monastic culture and its gradual development at the meeting point of diverse multilingual and multicultural influences (Germanic, Latin, Greco-Roman, Celtic, Old Norse, French, Italian), through the consolidation of its character under the Tudors, especially during the Elizabethan period, and the diversification of its distinct traditions, notably the Puritan, in the course of the turbulent 17th century, up to the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714), who was titled Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1707.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
The graduate has familiarity with:
K_W04 at an advanced level, the general characteristics of principal literary periods and works of English literature from its beginnings up to 1714, as well as the full names of the key writers and the titles and literary features of their representative works in connection with historical and cultural processes, at an advanced level.
Abilities
The graduate is able to:
K_U04 link the principal literary works and authors with the pertinent periods, and connect the overall character of literature (e. g. verse, drama, Christian values, courtly culture, chivalry, heroic ethos) with historical and cultural processes (e. g. Christian conversion, the Norman Conquest of England, the Renaissance of classical Greek and Roman literature and culture, puritanism).
Social competences
The graduate is ready to:
K_K01 critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources.
Assessment criteria
Written exam (verified learning outcomes: W, U)
The form of the retake to be decided by the lecturer; eg. written or oral test (verified learning outcomes: W, U)
Bibliography
A selection of chapters from: Michael Aleksander A History of English Literature, Macmillan 2013 (or earlier edition)
Pat Rogers The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature, Oxford 2001 (or earlier edition)
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: