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Lecturer(s)
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Krajíčková Veronika, Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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1. Introduction to walking as a literary theme/inspiration Reading: Frédéric Gros - "Introduction" (A Philosophy of Walking) 2. Pilgrimage Reading: Frédéric Gros - "Pilgrimage", Geoffrey Chaucer - "The Prologue," Canterbury Tales, Walter Raleigh - "The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage", George Herbert - "Pilgrimage" 3. Walking as Awakening of Our Senses Reading: Frédéric Gros - "Solitude", "Silence" (A Philosophy of Walking), Thomas Traherne - "Walking", Kate Chopin - "A Morning Walk" 4. Walking as the Escape from the City Reading: William Hazlitt - "On Going a Journey" 5. Wanderlust Reading: Rebecca Solnit - "The Legs of Wordsworth" (Wanderlust: A History of Walking); William Wordsworth - "Sweet Was the Walk", "An Evening Walk" 6. Walking, Genius and Creativity Reading: Leslie Stephen - "In Praise of Walking" 7. Walking and Self-Reliance Reading: Henry David Thoreau - "Walking" 8. Walking and Intimacy Reading: Sally Palmer- "I Prefer Walking": Jane Austen and "The Pleasantest Part of the Day", excerpts from Pride and Prejudice 9. Walking, Freedom and Eternity Reading: Walt Whitman - "Song of the Open Road", "Night on the Prairies", "On Journeys Through the States", Frédéric Gros - "Freedoms", "Eternities" (A Philosophy of Walking) 10. Walking and the Transformation of the Self Reading: Virginia Woolf - "Walk by Night", "A Simple Melody", "Street Haunting: A London Adventure" 11. Walking in a City: Flânerie Reading: Frédéric Gros - "The Urban Flâneur" (A Philosophy of Walking), Charles Dickens - "Night Walks", "Gone Astray" (Night Walks) 12. Walking Poetry and Introspection Reading: Robert Frost - "Acquainted with the Night", "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", "A Late Walk", "The Wood-Pile", "Road Not Taken", Edward Hirsch - "The Widening Sky", "My Pace Provokes My Thoughts" 13. Walking, Rhythm and Repetition Reading: Frédéric Gros - "Repetition" (A Philosophy of Walking), A.R. Ammons - "A Poem is a Walk" 14. Revision, Essay workshop
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Demonstration
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Learning outcomes
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This seminar aims to guide students through the theme of walking and walking as a conceptual tool in English and American literature. Grounded in contemporary revival of walking and pilgrimages, the seminar will trace the long-established connection between walking, thinking and writing (creativity) from the famous pilgrimage in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, early poems on walking by Walter Raleigh and George Herbert, through the romantic interest in natural wanderlust, walking, talking and establishing intimacy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, strolling in the urban space of Charles Dickens' Night Walks and walking in relation to the construction of one's identity in Virginia Woolf's short stories "A Simple Melody" and "Walk by Night." Moreover, it will also focus on introspective walking in Robert Frost's and Edward Hirsch's poems and introduce students to famous essays on walking such as William Hazlitt's "On Going a Journey", Thoreau's "Walking" or Leslie Stephen's "In Praise of Walking". Apart from intimating the development of the motif of walking in literature and exploring its functions, the seminar's objective is also to present students with concepts such as wanderlust, flânerie or rhizomatic identity. The reading list consisting of literary works where walking is foregrounded will be complemented with two philosophical works analysing various aspects of walking and its impact, namely Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust: A Philosophy of Walking and more recent Frédéric Gros' A Philosophy of Walking. The seminar will be taught in English.
Students will be familiarised with the theme of walking in literature, philosophy of walking and with the connection between walking and creativity. Moreover, they will be able to apply newly acquired knowledge to the analysis of any artwork, not just a literary text, and they can use it also in their everyday life, for example while practising walking as a form of therapy.
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Essay, Student performance assessment, Analysis of student's language skills, Analysis of creative work (musical, visual, literary), Systematic student observation
attendance (maximum 3 absences), active participation, short oral presentation (maximum 15 minutes), final essay (1500-2000 words) When submitting their essays, students must meet the deadline required by the teacher. If the essay fails, students have one more chance to resubmit it.
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Recommended literature
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Austen, Jane. Pride and prejudice. Reissued. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 0-19-280238-0.
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BOCK, Oliver a VILA-CABANES, Isabel (ed.). Urban Walking - The Flâneur as an Icon of Metropolitan Culture in Literature and Film. Vernon Press, 2020.
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EKELUND, Torbjorn. In Praise of Paths: Walking through Time and Nature. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2020.
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FROST, Robert. Collected poems, prose, & plays. 9th print. Library of America. New York, N.Y.: Literary Classics of the United States, 1995. ISBN 1-883011-06-X.
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GROS, Prédéric. A Philosophy of Walking. London: Verso, 2014.
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HAZLITT, William a SAMPSON, George. Selected essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1924.
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SOLNIT, Rebecca. Wanderlust: A History of Walking. London: Granta Books, 2014.
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THOREAU, Henry David. Collected essays and poems. Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States. 2001.
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WALLACE, Anne D. Walking, Literature, and English Culture: The Origins and Uses of Peripatetic in the Nineteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.
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WHITMAN, Walt. Complete poetry and collected prose: Leaves of Grass (1855) ; Leaves of Grass (1891-92) ; Complete prose works (1892) ; Supplementary prose. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1982. ISBN -940450-02-X.
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WOOLF, Virginia. Selected Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
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WORDSWORTH, William a HUSCHER, Herbert. Poems. Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1942.
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