General description
This course is taught over one year and analyses, in depth, selected Czech literary works written in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Aims
This course is intended to provide students with:

1. a competent knowledge of 13th- and 14th-century Czech literature, a period which saw the first great flowering of literature in Bohemia.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. understand significant historical allusions, literary references, and basic devices used by Czech mediaeval writers;
2. write analytical essays in English on their prescribed texts and refer to critical works in both Czech and English.

Content of the course
The course concentrates on developments in Czech literature in the 13th and 14th centuries, particularly in the period of the rule of Emperor Charles IV, during which Czech literature greatly flourished. Students will read and analyse examples of Czech mediaeval religious and secular lyrical poetry. They will examine the exclusive as well as the popular line of 14th-century Czech literature. They will be acquainted with excerpts of the first major narrative works written in Czech. They will study the genre of mediaeval disputation, as well as the genre of mediaeval satire. They will also gain knowledge of early Czech theological writing and of the beginnings of Czech mediaeval drama.

Students attend two one-hour seminars per week.

Two essays are required from each student: the first one before the beginning of Term 2, the second one before the beginning of Term 3. The essay topics and specific deadlines for submission will be displayed on the notice board for Czech. Seminars are so arranged that each student will give at least one presentation per session, and introduce a discussion of the work or theme concerned.

Assessment
There is a three-hour written examination paper at the end of the course.