East European Literature and Visual Arts (392-0-1)

Topic

Czech New Wave Film: Comm Cinema w/a Human Face

Instructors

Martina Kerlova
847/491-5788
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge, Office 3325
Office Hours: Tuesdays 12:30-2pm and by appointment

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-430: Thurs 3:30PM - 6:20PM

Overview of class

The Czechoslovak New Wave was one of the most fertile and original periods in Central European cinematography. In the 1960s a young generation of directors captured the imagination of audiences and critics at home and abroad.
The New Wave encompassed a variety of revolutionary styles that have made their way into the repetoire of directors around the world. Produced under a reforming but still repressive regime, the films elegantly pushed the boundaries of the permissible by subtly weaving their messages into dramas of daily life and romantic love. Two New Wave productions garnered the Academy Award Oscar for Best Foreign Film (A Shop on the Main Street and Closely Watched Trains). Others were locked away by Communist censors after the Soviet invasion of August 1968 and had to wait 20 years until the 1989 Velvet Revolution for their first screenings. This course will trace the origins of the New Wave, its flourishing and eventual demise. We will consider developments in film within their political and social context. We will also read several novels that served as the basis for the films

Learning Objectives

To understand the significance of communist imperialism from a globalized perspective and from the perspective of the subdued society.
To understand the role the subdued society plays itself in the master-slave dialectic as explored by Hegel, Marx and Horkheimer.
To understand the role literature and visual media played in the protest and resistance movement.
To understand the interaction between the larger imposing power, the subdued, the onlooking world and mainly, the elements of the psychology of the subdued society itself.
To integrate knowledge from the disciplines of history, visual arts, psychology, literature and sociology.
To communicate ideas effectively both in writing and through oral presentations.

Evaluation Method

Class participation (journals and/or discussion boards), assigned readings, 2 exams, final essay (4-6 pages).

Class Materials (Required)

Kundera, Milan. The Joke : Definitive Version. 1st ed. HarperCollins Publishers, 1992.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration is reserved for Slavic Majors or Minors only.