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The course analyses the presence of puppets, golems and automata in German and Austrian literature between the last years of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th. It embraces multiple genres and literary movements, including uncanny literature of late romanticism, fantastic literature, dramatic texts experimenting with the puppet metaphor and essays regarding puppets and devices in relation to human imagination. Two silent films are also part of the program. Puppets, golems and automata are considered, in the proposed materials, actual objects of artistic value, political metaphors, representations of human behavior, mirrors of the Self, as well as devilish devices symbolizing the decline of human society. Special attention also goes to the motif of the puppet master embodying the mechanisms of mass society, between the second half of the 19th century and WWI.
Poslední úprava: Zbytovský Štěpán, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.10.2024)
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Aim of the course is for the students to observe the several nuances and declinations acquired by these motifs in the given texts, as well as to reflect on the connection between their development and the socio-historical components influencing the birth of the proposed texts. Texts can be read in any language but are discussed in English. Poslední úprava: Zbytovský Štěpán, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.10.2024)
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Beside the weekly reading in preparation for the discussion, students are required to write a final essay based on primary literature proposed during the seminaries. The essay can propose a close reading of a piece from the considered literature, as well as an interpretation of one of the motifs identified in multiple works. Additional critical bibliography will be provided during the course. Poslední úprava: Zbytovský Štěpán, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.10.2024)
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1) Puppet theatre and poetic imagination; introduction to the course Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (Marionette theatre chapters 1-8) Heinrich von Kleist: On the Marionette Theatre
2) Automata and das Unheimliche Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, Der Sandmann
3) Pygmalion: rivisited Joseph von Eichendorff, The Marble Statue
4) Puppets and metaphors of power Georg Büchner, Woyzeck
5) Puppets and metaphors of power (2) Georg Büchner: Leonce and Lena
6) Puppets, mirrors and discovery of the Self G. Meyrink, Walpurgisnacht
7) Mechanics and progress (?) K. H. Strobl: The triumph of the mechanics; G. Meyrink: The Preparation/The Plants of Doctor Cinderella
8) Machines, utopias and creativity Paul Scheerbart, The Perpetual Motion Machine: The Story of an Invention
9) Golems (1) Extracts from: Jakob W. Pascheles, Sippurim Paul Wegener, The Golem (film)
10) Golems (2) Gustav Meyrink, The Golem (chosen parts)
11) Masters of puppets and seduction Hans Heinz Ewers, The Spider
12) The puppet and the city Gustav Meyrink, The Mysterious City Alfred Kubin, The Other Side (chosen parts)
13) Mechanics, humans and representations of power in mass society Fritz Lang, Metropolis Poslední úprava: Zbytovský Štěpán, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.10.2024)
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The course can be attended by both BA and MA students, provided they have a sufficient command of English language to read and discuss the proposed materials. Poslední úprava: Zbytovský Štěpán, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.10.2024)
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