General information

Course type AMUPIE
Module title Children’s Classics Across Time and Cultures
Language English
Module lecturer dr Aleksandra Wieczorkiewicz
Lecturer's email am81536@amu.edu.pl
Lecturer position Assistant Professor / Adiunkt
Faculty Faculty of Polish and Classical Philology
Semester 2024/2025 (summer)
Duration 30
ECTS 3
USOS code 03-AP-CCAT

Timetable

Module aim (aims)

Juvenile literature is a compelling domain underpinning every reader’s imagination. Children’s classics – books from different cultures and languages that combine fantasy with reality, humour and nonsense with lyricism, and linguistic invention with philosophy – constitute an important part of the world’s literary heritage. This course proposes revisiting childhood's literary lands to set them in context and appreciate them anew.

Main aims of the course:

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Basic knowledge of children’s literature, basic competence in analysing and interpreting literary texts, and English language skills at the intermediate level (B2).

Syllabus

Proposed sample class topics:



    1. In the Wonderland of Nonsense – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

 

    1. Neverland Revisited – Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie

 

    1. Somewhere Over the Rainbow – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by F.L. Baum

 

    1. Growing into Nature – The Secret Garden by F.H. Burnett

 

    1. Wooden Humanity – The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

 

    1. School Horrors – Matilda by Roald Dahl

 

    1. A Mighty Child – King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak

 

    1. Loving Wild – Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

 

    1. Against the Tide – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

 

    1. A Child and the Book – The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

 

    1. Drawing the Secrets of Life (and Death) – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

Reading list

The topics and a detailed reading list will be given during the first class.