CULTURAL HISTORY OF
THE CZECH LANDS
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The course will give the students an outline of Czech history and its
connections with European developments. Attention will be given to the way in
which history is reflected in Czech arts and literature, as arts and literature
have often contributed significantly to the political life of the country.
A brief outline of the history of art and architecture will present the
most important periods and will be supported with slides recommending the
students the most significant places of interest in this country.
The course will also show the important role of music in the cultural
life of this nation.
HISTORY:
1.
Celtic, Germanic and
Slavonic tribes on the territory of the Czech state. The beginnings of the
Czech state and its relations to the
2.
The House of
3.
Jan Hus
and reformists after his death, religious wars of 15th century. King George of Poděbrady and his peace initiatives. Decline of royal power
under the Jagiellon dynasty.
4.
The arrival of Habsburg
dynasty. Catholicism and Protestantism. Rudolph II. The Thirty Years' War and
defeat of the Czech estates in 1620.
5.
Enlightenment and
reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II. The National Revival. Revolution of
1848 and reaction. Growth of Czech nationalism.
6.
Thomas Garrigue Masaryk and his revolt
in exile. The establishment of
FINE ARTS AND
ARCHITECTURE:
7.
Romanesque Art – impressive, monumental. Architecture: rotundas, basilicas, burgher
houses in towns. Painting: illuminated manuscripts, mural paintings.
8.
Gothic style in the Czech Lands. Architecture: Early Gothic, High Gothic, Late
Gothic connected respectively with
9.
Renaissance - connection with preceding Gothic style. New life style: mansions,
country houses. Renaissance towns in
10.
Mannerism – Rudolph II and his court. Rudolph´s
collections; melancholy of the age. Scientists in
11.
Baroque – based on contrasts, principle of absolutism. Artistic dynasties from
Architecture: churches, monasteries, palaces, towns.
Baroque Gothic as a specific element in the architecture of the Czech
Lands – Santini. Dientzenhofer,
Lurago, Carrati, Mathey, Fisher von Erlach.
Sculpture: Brokoff, Braun. Painters: Škréta, Brandl, Kupecký, Reiner, etc.
12.
19th century art & the
National Revival. Architecture:
historical styles (new Romanesque, new Gothic, new Renaissance). From the
Estates Theatre to the National Theatre. Sculptors: decorative style,
monumental realism (Myslbek, Šaloun,
Sucharda). Painting: first half of the century –
romantic influence, later generation of the National Theatre; end of the
century – inspiration from
13.
20th century art – modernism in architecture, development of arts between the wars. Contemporary
trends.
MUSIC (tapes will be played):
Early beginnings of music, church hymns (Lord Have Mercy, Hymn to St. Wenceslas), Latin liturgy (Budeč). German influence at royal court -
minnesäng. Huss's influence.
Reformation encouraged sacred
music, “common” music. Literary fraternities. Court collegium musicum
and Ferdinand I, Rudolph II;
Baroque music
in churches and aristocratic palaces (instrumental music), needs of
representation. Michna,
Vejvanovský. Černohorský, Zelenka – “the Czech Bach”.
Classical period saw fortunate fusion of
European musical developments with typical features of Czech folk musical
tradition. Fluent transition from Baroque into Classicism.
Sacred music – F. X. Brixi;
domestic tradition – cantores (Linek,
Ryba). Mozart in
Romantic influences. Smetana and Dvořák.
1894 – Czech Philharmonic (independent since 1901). Fibich,
Foerster, Novák, Suk, Ostrčil, Janáček,
Martinů.
CZECH LITERATURE:
Czech literature is more than 1000 years old – the oldest of the Slavic
literatures, can match French and German literatures in longevity. Medieval
chronicles and legends reflect political and cultural tensions of the age (Cosmas, Dalimil). Beginnings of drama.
Huss´s reform of Czech
orthography, literature connected with Hussitism. The invention of printing press. Unitas
Fratrum, est. 1457.
Humanism in
The
Habsburgs defeated the Protestants of Bohemia in 1620, after which
Protestantism was eradicated and
Jan
Amos Comenius (1592-1670) – bishop of the Unitas Fratrum; his work was the
synthesis of Humanism and Reformation. Famous for his innovations
in methods of teaching, especially languages. He favoured the learning
of Latin to facilitate the study of European culture. His aim
– encyclopaedic knowledge of the world. Subordinated rational
understanding to religion.
Baroque
literature addressed almost exclusively to the primitive popular
masses and adapted to their interests and taste Ò
inferior to the visual arts of the period. Elements of
imagination & emotion, mysticism, expressiveness, paradoxes. Because
of these paradoxes, the literature of Baroque writers was rejected “en masse”
by the Enlightenment. Activities of the Jesuits; development
of local history and geography.
National
Revival: ideas of patriotism & national reawakening. Tendencies to learn & idealise the national past; penetrate
into the essence of national soul and make it into a new creative principle;
the pan-Slavic ideas. Development of the language, the drama became the
vehicle of the new trends.
Romantic
wave – K. H. Mácha, the greatest
Czech poet. Influence of Byron.
Literature
after 1848 wavered between romanticism & realism; writers
fought on barricades, suffered imprisonment Ò
interest in real life, attracted to social reform × previous idyllic tone.
K. Havlíček – critical journalism; B. Němcová – beginnings of feminism; J. Neruda.
End
of 19th century – L´art pour l´art movement, oriented toward
foreign literature, cosmopolitan spirit; Czech literature finally integrated
into general European culture. Numerous translations; purpose
– to catch up with
Battle about the authenticity of the hoax “medieval” manuscripts.
With
the establishment of
Before
the destruction of Czech Jewry during the war and the expulsion of the German
minority at the end of the war,
Between
1918 and 1945 – Josef Hora,
František Halas, Vítězslav Nezval, and Jaroslav Seifert presented lyrical poetry of the highest
quality. After WW2, however, the newly established communist regime
suppressed free literary activity and permitted only works conforming to the
restrictive tenets of Socialist Realism. Czech writing consequently underwent a
marked decline.
After
the relaxation in the early 1960s, the novels of Josef Škvorecký and Milan Kundera, the
short stories of Bohumil Hrabal,
and the plays of Václav Havel
began attracting international attention. In the wake of the Soviet-led
invasion in 1968, many of these writers were suppressed in
After
the democratic revolution of 1989, free literature flourished, and the
playwright Václav Havel,
who had been a dissident, became president of
Suggested reading:
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Petr Čornej: Fundamentals of Czech History, Práh Publishers, 1992
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Jiří Pokorný: The
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Derek Sayer: The Coasts of
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Peter Demetz:
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Angelo Maria Ripellino: The Magic
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J. V. Polišenský: History of
Prerequisities: none
Instructor:
PhDr ing. Rudolf Chalupský
Department of English
Graduated at Prague University of Economics and at Faculty of Arts of
Charles University (English and Sociology), studied in
In 1977 he became a member of the English Department at the
Since 1992 he has been involved in the Central and East European Studies
Programme at the
How to obtain credits:
70% – essay;
30% – attendance.
Grading:
93 - 100% A (Excellent) 85 - 92% B (Very Good) 77 - 84% C (Average) 69 - 76% D (Below Average) 61 - 68% E (Failure) 55 - 60% Fx (Fail - possible to retake the exam) 54% - less F (Fail)