Course Title: Elective seminar on British-American history and Credits: 3
culture
Type of course (lecture/seminar): seminar and hours per week/semester: 2/30
Method of assessment (exam/practical grade): practical grade
Suggested semester: 6
Prerequisites (if any): Complex language exam
Course description:
The purpose of the seminars launched in frames of this subject is to complete students’ literary
studies with essential historical and cultural backgrounds. The seminars focus on a significant
period of (art) history, influential persons or certain institutions shaping Anglo-American
civilization. The courses are conceived to prepare good grounds for the future MA studies. The
close reading of source texts directly related to the seminar’s issues introduces students to the study
of various types of texts that do not belong to the literary canon, but highlight the social, cultural
and intellectual forces in the background of the literary works of a given period. Similarly to the
elective lectures on Anglo-American culture and history, the seminars offer a wide variety of topics
a selective list of which will be listed here for the sake of examples:
 The Cultural History of the English Essay: Theory and Practice
The course surveys the development of the genre of the English essay from Francis Bacon to
contemporary prose. Beyond the transformations of the genre in literary history the focus of the
seminar will be to investigate the functions the essay had in cultural history and the roles of authors
in their respective intellectual environments. By combining theory and practice, the seminar wishes
to achieve a triple purpose: (1) to survey the changes of the genre and the concept of the essay, (2)
to uncover the critical stances of essays reflecting on English/British intellectual and cultural
achievements, and to discuss the various concepts of culture emerging from these essays, and (3) to
develop essay writing skills and analytical competencies through the analysis of the changing ideals
of the English essay.
 The Musical Context of English Literature
The course will revisit some of the outstanding works of the English literary canon with the aim of
discussing their motifs related to music which have often remained concealed after first reading.
The discovery of the musical layer of the works will go hand in hand with the discussion of their
significance in the given social and cultural context. On the example of courses analyzing the
discourses and the interrelations of “words and images”, this seminar investigates the mutual
indebtedness of literature and music, and places the literary manifestations of music in their social
and intellectual context. Thus the seminar is not a conventional course of musical history, but
invites students to discover how the musical tastes, practices and expressions of an age can be
traced from literary works, and eventually, how literary works relate to contemporary appreciations
of music.
 Presidential elections in the United States of America
The course is aimed at introducing students to the rules and practices of American presidential
elections, from the selection of party candidates, through the primary season and the party
conventions to Election Day and the inauguration of the winner. Always held in election year, the
course focuses on the case study of the current presidential race, the candidates’ campaign,
programs and their public media reflections as well as referring back to some of the memorable
presidential elections of the past 100 years.
Required and recommended reading:
Required readings:
Due to the diversity of topics within this course, readings will be determined by the individual topic
of the respective course. However, for an overall background of Anglo-American social, cultural
and intellectual history, as well as of the history of art, the courses will rely on the following works:
ARNOLD-BAKER, Charles, ed., The Companion to British History, 2nd edition, London,
Routledge, 2001, ISBN: 9780415185837
FORD, Boris, ed., The Cambridge Cultural History I-IX, Cambridge, The Cambridge University
Press, 1992
JOHNSON, Paul, A History of the American People, 2nd edition, London, Phoenix, 2000, ISBN:
9781842124253
Recommended readings:
The following recommended readings pertain to the topics of the list of seminar samples given
above:
GROSS, John, ed., The Oxford Book of Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN:
9780192840899
LEVINE, Myron A., Presidential Campaigns and Elections: Issues, Images and Partisanship,
Itasca, Illinois, Peacock Publication, 1992, ISBN: 9780875813578
SCHOLES, Percy A., The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th edition, London, Oxford University
Press, 1970, ISBN: 9780193113060
Lecturer responsible for course: Tamás Karáth, senior lecturer, PhD
Lecturers participating in teaching: Károly Pintér, associate professor, PhD; Kinga
Földváry, senior lecturer, PhD; Veronika Schandl, associate professor, PhD;
Gabriella Reuss, senior lecturer, PhD; Ildikó Limpár, senior lecturer, PhD; László
Munteán, assistant lecturer, PhD