Literatures and Cultures

The course will be taught by two teachers with different backgrounds and expertise. The course will start, along with the first guide, Prof. Przemysałw Kordos, from Greece or rather from the Greek language, once the lingua franca in the Oikoumene, the language that travelled far and wide with its users and became one of the universal Western languages to build up new terms and - in a way - a new world of ideas. Greek neologisms as well as old philosophical terms travelled around the globe and are universally present. Then, we will move on to several examples of migration in Modern Greek literature, written from the point of view of a Greek emigrant (Chatzis, Alexakis), but also from the perspective of an immigrant to Greece (Kaplani). All these texts are at the very core of the Modern Greek literary canon.
The second module will move away from thinking within language regions. It will focus on literature (and other cultural texts) dedicated not to a particular nationality but to a specific social group - namely, the youth. Dr Krzysztof Rybak, the key specialist in children's and YA culture, will discuss the representation of migration in video games ("The Waiting Game", "Syrian Journey", "Path Out"), comics (Satrapi's "Persepolis"), film (King's "Paddington"), picturebooks (Tan's "The Arrival", Watanabe's "Migrants", Greder's "The Mediterranean", Sanna's "The Journey"), and the use of wordless picturebooks with refugees in Lampedusa and beyond (IBBY's project "Silent Books - Final Destination Lampedusa").
The final part of the course will consist of short presentations dedicated to other works of literature and culture given by the students.

Upon completing the course, student will:
- know in depth the methods of analysis and interpretation of cultural texts;
- know and understand the most important methods of interdisciplinary research, including the use of linguistics and anthropology;
- understand the role of intercultural communication and active participation in contemporary societies and know how these are related to migration studies;
- be able to apply linguistic tools to analyse social and spatial mobility;
- be able use ethnographic methods to analyse social and spatial mobility and transnationalism;
- be able to prepare a well-argued oral or written presentation taking into account the needs of the audience, in particular using a range of digital tools; will be able to present arguments in support of their beliefs and knowledge in a logical and convincing manner;
- be ready for (and understand the importance of) lifelong learning;
- be ready to explore new research methods.