Literature, culture and the media

3American Comics Jakub Krogulec, MA

From Drizzt Do’Urden to Commander Shepard: Theoretical Approaches to the Protagonist in Role-Playing Games Dr Agata Zarzycka

4Film Studies: Hermeneutics of the Moving Image Elżbieta Litwin, MA

Literature, Culture, Media: Film Adaptations of 19th and 20th Century Fiction Dr Anna Cichoń

5SF/Fantasy Narratives vs. Their Film AdaptationsProf. Mariusz Marszalski

6Contemporary Theatre and Film/TV Adaptations of Drama Prof. Ewa Kębłowska-Ławniczak

American Comics

1. Introduction to the comic book art, genesis, history, poetics and genres.2. The comic book as a medium. The analysis of its artistic techniques and cultural function.3. The American comics in 1887 – 1938. The artistic trends and history based on the analysis of selected comic books (Palmer Cox,

Richard F. Outcault, Frederick Burr Opper, Winsor McCay, Harold Gray, Arthur Floyd Gottfredson).4. American comics in 1939 – 1961. The artistic trends and history based on the analysis of selected comics books (Joe Shuster, Jerry

Siegel, Bill Finger, Bob Kane, C.C. Beck, Bill Parker, William Moulton Marston, Charles Monroe Schulz and others).5. American comics in 1961 – 1985. The artistic trends and history based on the analysis of selected comics books (Gardner Fox, Joe

Kubert, Julius Schwartz, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Bill Everett and others).6. American comics in 1986 – 2016. The artistic trends and history based on the analysis of selected comics. Comics, new media and

socio-cultural changes in the United States.7. A Contract with God by Will Eisner as an American graphic novel — an analysis of the comic book and its relation to the broadly

defined American literary tradition.8. Selected comics by Frank Miller (Born Again, Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One) as examples of American superhero comics

— an analysis of the comic book and its relation to the broadly defined American literary tradition.9. Independent American comics and works of Robert Crumb — an analysis of the comic book and its relation to the broadly defined

American literary tradition.10. Maus by Art Spiegleman as an example of American biographic comic — an analysis of the comic book and its relation to the broadly

defined American literary tradition.11. Fables by William Willingham as an example of modern American comic — an analysis of the comic book and its relation to the broadly

defined American literary tradition.12. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan as an example of modern American comic — an analysis of the comic book and its relation to the broadly

defined American literary tradition.13. British and Scottish authors on American market: Alan Moore (Watchmen), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Grant Morrison (Arkham

Asylum).14. American comic and its presence in the social sphere.

From Drizzt Do’Urden to Commander Shepard: Theoretical Approaches to the Protagonist in Role-Playing Games

1. Role-playing games: An introduction to the course2. A survey of approaches to the protagonist in literary theory.3. The character-audience relationship in terms of literary studies, film studies, cultural anthropology and social studies.4. Player’s character as a communication and navigation tool5. Case study: Dungeons and Dragons; The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim6. Player’s character as a narrative and aesthetic function.7. Case study: Deadlands; Dragon Age trilogy8. Character’s psychologization; immersive identification9. Case study: Vampire: The Masquerade; Among the Sleep10. Player’s character as a political construct.11. Case study: Werewolf: The Apocalypse; Bioware studio12. Player’s character, metaconsciousness and posthumanism13. Case study: Spookybeans: The Gothic Comics RPG; Mass Effect: Citadel; Epic NPC Man: “Assassination”14. Project presentations15. Test and grades

Film Studies: Hermeneutics of the Moving Image

1. Syllabus overview. Discussion of film as a cultural text. Exploration of applied film studies terminology. Defining film language tools.

2. Camera as cultural representation. Cultural and sociohistorical aspects of mise-en-scène. Verbal vs. non-verbal means of communication. The Interpreter, dir. Sydney Pollack

3. The language of a shot. Diegetic editing. Slow reveal. Once Upon a Time in the West, dir. Sergio Leone4. Composition. Motif. Color. Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, dir. Baz Luhrmann5. Shot size. Close-up vs. total imagery. Fragmentation. Camera movement. Henry V, dir. Kenneth Branagh6. Production design as a cultural statement. Juxtaposition. Artifacts in mise-en-scène. Cultural legacy. The Lord of the

Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, dir. Peter Jackson7. Epic vs. 3-act structure in film. Production design (color, costume design, props, location and make-up) as a character

development tool. Thelma and Louise, dir. Ridley Scott8. Psychological action. Eyeline. Subtext. The Method. On the Waterfront, dir. Elia Kazan9. Camera axis. 180-degree-rule. Choreography of a shot as character statement. Meet Joe Black, dir. Martin Brest10. Group presentations.11. Architecture as a character development tool. Breaking the axis as a statement. A Room with a View, dir. James Ivory12. Image layers. Depth of field. Montage. The rule of thirds. Citizen Kane, dir. Orson Welles13. Space as subtext. Color. The King’s Speech, dir. Tom Hooper14. Final test

Literature, Culture, Media: Film Adaptations of 19th and 20th Century Fiction

Classes 1-3The starting point for in-class discussions of film adaptations will be problems related to literary works: construction of narrative fiction (according to Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan’s Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics): text, narrative, story, focalization, character, characterization, temporal relations, elements of the world presented, textual levels and voices, formal aspects, genres, cultural contexts, analysis and interpretation of the selected texts.Classes 4-15Problems related to transferring a verbal text to a performative, audio-visual medium:● relations between text and film● imitation, adaptation, appropriation—differences (various versions of Pride and Prejudice)● a historical overview of approaches to adaptations (Wuthering Heights)● multiple planes of films: image, sound, spoken language, music, actor, etc.● transformations of literary texts—transferable, non-transferable and party transferable elements; subjective vs.

objective interpretation (Disgrace)● reduction, substitution, amplification, trans-accentuation (Mrs Dalloway)● transcodification (Wide Sargasso Sea)● modernisation (Great Expectations)● film as popularisation of high culture (Atonement)● intertextual approaches (The Hours)● literary adaptations of films

In view of students’ interests, the selection of novels/films for in-class discussions may be modified.

SF/Fantasy Narratives vs. Their Film Adaptations

1. Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 vs. Fahrenheit 451 directed by Francois Truffaut

2. Stanisław Lem, Solaris vs. Solaris directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

3. Solaris directed by Steven Soderbergh

4. Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey vs. 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick

5. Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? vs. Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott

6. Brian Aldiss, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" vs. A.I. Artificial Intelligence directed by Steven

Spielberg

7. Fairy tale conventions in Enchanted directed by Kevin Lima

8. C.S. Lewis, TheLion, theWitch and the Wardrobe vs. The Chronicles of Narnia: TheLion, theWitch

and the Wardrobe directed by Andrew Adamsom

Contemporary Theatre and Film/TV Adaptations of Drama

1. FILM (GB): Tom Stoppard , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 1967. Hamlet’s merge with Samuel

Beckett’s Waiting for Godot

2. FILM (US): Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet, 1996. First full adaptation of William Shakespeare’s text

3. FILM (US): Michael Almereyda, Hamlet, 2000. Hamlet set in the word of business corporations, digital cameras

and surveillance. Modernisation

4. STAGE PRODUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE – FILMED: Hamlet with actress Maxine Peake as the Prince (2015)

5. STAGE PRODUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE – FILMED: RSC Hamlet with Ghanaian actor Paapa Essedieu as

Hamlet (set in Africa) (2016)

6. FILM (INDIA) Haider (Only some speeches are in English). A powerful and controversial film set in Kashmir,

dealing with ethnic and racial conflict (2014)

7. FILM (on DVD), Hamlet (1920). Silent film masterpiece with actress Asta Nielsen as Hamlet

8. Monty Python’s Hamlet (selected scenes)