The motif of journey in English and American literature: from Chaucer to Kerouac. 4024-JEAL-OG

It is said that travel broadens your mind. This course is going to examine
some ways in which English and American authors approached the topic
of journey in their works.
In fiction, the motif of journey has always played a significant role.
Fictional characters have been travelling in time and space, in a real as
well as in a virtual world. Travel has become a metaphor of the whole
human life, “from the cradle to the grave”.
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There also exists a huge bulk of documentary writing referred to as “travel
literature”, including travel narratives, diaries and essays. These works
provide an invaluable insight into other cultures, contributing to the ever
so relevant process of cross-culture communication.
In this course we shall discuss some examples of both fiction and non-
fiction writing about journey and travelling, from medieval until
contemporary times. We shall discuss and compare the reasons for which
people travelled and the ways in which travelling affected their individual

lives and enhanced their understanding of the world.
The „blended” formula implies that each class will consist of two parts: In
the first one a teacher will introduce the particular literary work and its
author, giving important background information.
The second part will involve reading extracts from the text and discussing
them from a variety of perspectives. The teacher will suggest some
questions to discuss, but students will be expected to contribute their own
ideas, share their opinions with the others and, generally, participate
actively throughout.
During the class only short extracts will be read and, in order to benefit
fully from the course, students will be encouraged to do more reading at
home. The list of topics and literary texts is available later in the syllabus.
While it is rather difficult to estimate the exact amount of time a student
should dedicate to achieve the later specified learning outcomes ( see
below), it may be assumed that apart from 30 hours of being actually in the
class, another 60 hours should be spent on reading, revising and writing an
essay.