CZECH (With Slovak)
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UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD FACULTY OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN LANGUAGES CZECH (with Slovak) Final Honour School Handbook INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS WHO START THEIR FHS COURSE IN OCTOBER 2019 AND NORMALLY EXPECT TO BE TAKING THE FHS EXAMINATION IN TRINITY TERM 2022 This handbook gives subject-specific information for your FHS course in Czech (with Slovak). For general information about your studies and the faculty, please consult the Faculty’s Undergraduate Course Handbook (https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:humdiv:modlang). FINAL HONOUR SCHOOL (FHS) FHS teaching in Czech language and literature – in the form of university lectures, college classes / seminars and tutorials – is coordinated by: Dr Rajendra Chitnis (Associate Professor in Czech) Dr Vanda Pickett (Czech Language Tutor) Czech (with Slovak) is not available for ‘sole’ Honours. Most undergraduates take this part of their degree in combination with another language, and it is this pattern which is assumed below. (It is also possible to take the subject in Joint Schools with English, Modern History etc., for which the regulations are slightly different.) ☛ Extensive local and external web resources for students of Czech and Slovak language and literature are available at: http://czech.mml.ox.ac.uk The Year Abroad in the Czech Republic The third year is normally spent abroad. Most students taking two languages divide their time between the Czech Republic and a country appropriate for their other language. Students may spend a term at a university in the Czech Republic on the Erasmus+ program, find work placements or teach English at school or college level. Students will sometimes combine more than one of these possibilities. Your year abroad coordinator can discuss your options with you in more detail and further information is available at https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:humdiv:modlang:year_abroad under ‘Guidance for specific languages’. It is essential that students continue to read daily in Czech throughout this year, as well as speaking as much as possible to build up their fluency. They should maximise their exposure to the Czech language, through radio, TV, films, DVDs etc. as well as through their personal contacts and studies. 1 HONOUR PAPERS IN CZECH (WITH SLOVAK) LANGUAGE During the FHS course, undergraduates continue their language work in a wide variety of ways. This includes translation from and into Czech, oral and aural work, Czech prose classes and acquisition of a reading knowledge of Slovak. Some part of the third year is spent studying or working in the Czech Republic (see below). ☛ Students will find James Naughton, Colloquial Slovak (Routledge, 2011) useful for their study of Slovak in the final year. Please see http://czech.mml.ox.ac.uk/czech-and-slovak- language-resources#textbooks for other Slovak language material. The following language examinations are taken by all students for their Finals: ORAL COMPREHENSION, DISCOURSE AND CONVERSATION The exam is in two parts. – Comprehension: Students will listen to a reading of a passage of Czech; this passage will be of five minutes’ duration at normal reading speed. They will then have 25 minutes to answer (written) questions on this passage. – Discourse and Conversation: Before the exam students will be given three topics, one of which they must choose and prepare a short (approx. 5 minute) discourse on. This will be followed by a discussion (in Czech) lasting no more than 10 minutes. PAPER I: Translation into Czech (or Slovak) and essay in Czech (or Slovak) One unseen passage of prose for translation in Czech (or, if a candidate prefers, into Slovak). The passage may be either fiction or non-fiction and is usually between 250-300 words in length. There is a choice of five language essay topics (the essay may be written in either Czech or Slovak). Suggested essay length is approximately 500 to 750 words. Equal weight will be given to both tasks. Paper IIA and IIB: Translation from Modern Czech and Modern Slovak – IIA: One unseen passage of modern Czech, fiction or non-fiction, to be translated into English. Length of passage: approx. 350 words. – IIB: One unseen passage of modern Slovak, fiction or non-fiction, to be translated into English. Length of passage: approx. 350 words. 2 LITERATURE In addition to the language papers, all students of Czech take the one Period Paper available: – Paper VIII: Period of Literature (iii): 1774 to the Present And either ONE or TWO further courses, chosen from: – Paper IV: The History of Czech and Slovak – Paper IX: Medieval Prescribed Texts – Paper X: Modern Prescribed Authors The following are brief descriptions of each of these papers, starting with Paper VIII, as this is taken by all students. Paper VIII: Period of Literature (iii): 1774 to the Present This course covers a range of literature from the Czech National Revival (Obrození) through various periods and literary movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, up to the present day. Familiarity with a certain corpus of classic and well-known texts will be expected, but there is also scope to pursue individual interests. The works read during this course, both in class and for tutorials, will be selected from writers such as (in roughly chronological order): Mácha, Erben, Němcová, Neruda, Zeyer, Hlaváček, Dyk, Hašek, Čapek, Durych, Nezval, Halas, Seifert, Vančura, Součková, Jedlička, Kundera, Škvorecký, Vaculík, Hrabal, Havel, Linhartová... This is not an exhaustive list but is simply intended to give a general idea of which Czech authors are frequently studied, and about whom specific examination questions have been set in the past. Selected works from some of these authors are available in English translation, however many works are not translated and all candidates will be strongly encouraged to read in Czech. For the examination, candidates are asked to write on three questions out of a choice of approx. fifteen (not counting ‘either… or’ questions and similar). They are not obliged to show a knowledge of both Czech and Slovak writers. A majority of questions will refer to prominent authors, or name a choice of authors, but there will also be questions without named authors. ☛ READING LIST The list below shows authors and works that are typically covered by candidates during the four years of their studies. A few of these works are available in English, however most are not and all candidates will be expected to read widely in Czech. 19th-Century Prose: Jakub ARBES: Svatý Xaverius Vítězslav HÁLEK: Muzikantská liduška K. H. MÁCHA: Pouť Krkonošská, Marinka, Křivoklad, Cikáni Božena NĚMCOVÁ: Divá Bára, Babička Jan NERUDA: Povídky malostranské, Arabesky Karolína SVĚTLÁ: Kříž u potoka, Vesnický román Julius ZEYER: Tři legendy o krucifixu, Dům „U tonoucí hvězdy“ 19th-Century Poetry: K. J. ERBEN: Kytice 3 Karel HLAVÁČEK: Mstivá Kantiléna, Pozdě k ránu K. H. MÁCHA: Máj J. S. MACHÁR: Zde by měly kvést růže Jan NERUDA: Balady a romance, Zpěvy páteční, Prosté motivy Antonín SOVA: Zlomená duše 20th-century Prose (pre-1989): Karel ČAPEK: Boží muka, Trapné povídky, Povídky z jedné kapsy, Povídky z druhé kapsy, Hordubal, Povětroň, Obyčejný život Jakub DEML: Zapomenuté světlo Jaroslav DURYCH: Rekviem – Menší valdštejnská trilogie Viktor DYK: Krysař Ladislav FUKS: Pan Theodor Mundstock, Spalovač mrtvol Jan HANČ: Události Jaroslav HAŠEK: Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za druhé světové války Václav HAVEL: Zahradní slavnost, Pokoušení, Odcházení etc. Egon HOSTOVSKÝ: Cizinec hledá byt, Listy z vyhnanství Bohumil HRABAL: Ostře sledované vlaky, Příliš hlučná samota, Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále etc. [See also Paper X below.] Josef JEDLIČKA: Kde život náš je v půli se svou poutí Pavel KOHOUT: Katyně Milan KUNDERA: Žert, Směšné lásky, Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí etc. Věra LINHARTOVÁ: Prostor k rozlišení Karel PECKA: Motáky nezvěstnému Milada SOUČKOVÁ: Amor a Psyche, Neznámý člověk Josef ŠKVORECKÝ: Zbabělci, Bassaxofon etc. Ludvík VACULÍK: Morčata, Sekyra Vladislav VANČURA: Markéta Lazarová, Konec krásných časů, Pekař Jan Marhoul Jiří WEIL: Život s hvězdou, Na střeše je Mendelssohn, Moskva–hranice Richard WEINER: Netečný divák, Škleb 20th-century Poetry: František HALAS: Staré ženy, Kohout plaší smrt, Sépie Josef KAINAR: Nové mýty Vítězslav NEZVAL: Básně noci, Pantomima Valérie a týden divů, Absolutní hrobař Jaroslav SEIFERT: Na vlnách TSF, Morový sloup Milada SOUČKOVÁ: Mluvící pásmo Jiří WOLKER: Host do domu (incl. Svatý kopeček), Těžká hodina Prose (post-1989): Jan BALABÁN: Možná že odcházíme Emil HAKL: O rodičích a dětech Jáchym TOPOL: Anděl, Chladnou zemí Michal VIEWEGH: Báječná léta pod psa Texts are available in the Taylorian Library and some college libraries, and a number of 19th- century texts are available on our website: http://czech.mml.ox.ac.uk/czech-and-slovak- literature-resources. You may also like to purchase new/second-hand books if you go to the Czech Republic (e.g. through a website such as http://muj-antikvariat.cz) as texts are often out of print, or difficult to obtain and expensive if purchased outside the country. Paper IV: Linguistic Studies I – The History of Czech and Slovak 4 This introductory course aims to survey the historical development of Czech from the time when it became a distinct entity within the Slavonic group up to the present day. The course will include introductory study of the historical phonology, morphology, syntax and vocabulary, and changes in written norms, with some reference to dialects as well as to the evolution of the most widespread non-standard spoken forms. The history of Czech as a medium of literature is examined, from the written records of the late 13th and 14th centuries up to the period of the obrození. We also look at the creation of terminology, spelling reforms etc. The development of standard Slovak from the later 18th century onward is also studied in outline. ☛ Passages for commentary and translation will be taken from: Jaroslav Porák, Chrestomatie k vývoji českého jazyka (Praha, SNP, 1979), pp.