When the concept of the world literature was formulated in the late 19th century, it was evident that the culture of Western Europe functioned as a unity with diachronic influences from Ancient Greece and Rome to the present day. Art was divided into periods and the canon of great and important works was compiled. Then, the canon was evaluated (some periods were reinterpreted, some neglected, some favoured). The major theatre periods indicate the development of theatre and drama conventions and the way they influence contemporary theatre. The programme includes module A (introduction, overview, period evaluation), module B (module A + drama conventions and Ancient Greece and Rome) and module C (module A, module B and other periods, drama conventions and example analysis).
Module A
Upon completion of module A students will be able to describe, analyse, and explain the introduction of the notion of world literature, great theatre epochs and drama canon as well as the way they are valued.
Module B (outcomes of module A plus)
Upon completion of module B students will be able to describe and analyse the emergence of the theatre as an art form as well as theatre conventions, to learn and analyse one epoch (Ancient Greece and Rome).
Module C (outcomes of module A, Module B plus)
Synchronic analysis. Students will be able to describe and analyse the creation of epochs (from the Ancient Greece and Rome until today), their characteristics (drama and theatre conventions) and development directions (social, artistic) that form the theatre model of a given period.
Diachronic analysis. Students will be able to carry out a comparative analysis of how a given epoch has influenced present-day theatre. They will be able to place important writers in a context, in their own epoch (in relation to other authors) as well as in the reception paradigm of today.
They will learn and understand the basic theoretical notions of the history of drama and theatre and will be able to apply them. Due to an active involvement in the analysis of plays, students will be able to analyse and synthesise their knowledge of the theatre history as well as improve the oral skills of expressing thoughts.