HST 3336:
Politics & Culture in 20th Century Europe
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HST 3336: |
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In this century, a central concern of European thought has been the relation between what may seem quite disparate and unrelated phenomena: "politics" and "culture." This course will explore the dynamic interaction of these forces, examing the politics of culture as well as the culture of politics as they have developed in twentieth-century European societies.
To do so, we will examine both major political events of the twentieth century--the two World Wars, the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War--and what has been called the "politics of everyday life." We will atttempt to identify cultural influences on, representations of, and responses to the political. In addition to printed texts, we will explore film, photography and painting as political tools and as forms of cultural expression. The class will combine lectures with frequent discussions.
Required
texts :
Italo Calvino, A Path to the Nest
of Spiders
Alexandra Kollontai, Love of Worker Bees
George Orwell, Hommage to Catalonia
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan
Denisovich
Virgina Woolf, Three Guineas
Additional readings (marked *) are available in a Reader from Off-Campus Books.
REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION
CRITERIA:
Class preparation and participation;
two 5-7 page papers; midterm; final exam.
| L=Lecture | D=Discussion | F=Film |
| Tues. 1/13 | Introduction |
| Thurs. 1/15 | L: World War One |
| Tues. 1/20 | F: The Pity of War |
| Thurs. 1/22 | D: All Quiet On The Western Front |
| Tues. 1/27 | L: The Russian Revolution |
| Thurs. 1/29 | L: The Cultural Revolution |
| Tues. 2/3 | D: Love of Worker Bees |
| Thurs. 2/5 | F: Mother FIRST PAPER DUE |
| Tues. 2/10 | L: Growth of Fascisms |
| Thurs. 2/12 | L: Everday Life Under Fascism |
| Tues. 2/17 | F: Triumph of the Will |
| Thurs. 2/19 | D: Bread and Wine journal due in class |
| Tues. 2/24 | L: The Democracies Between the Wars |
| Thurs. 2/26 | D: Three Guineas |
| Tues. 3/3 | F: Why We Fight: Prelude to War |
| Thurs. 3/5 | MID-TERM EXAM |
| S P R I N G B R E A K | |
| Tues. 3/17 | L: The Spanish Civil War |
| Thurs. 3/19 | L: Artists Respond to the Spanish Civil War |
| Tues. 3/24 | D: Homage To Catalonia |
| Thurs. 3/26 | L: World War Two |
| Tues. 3/31 | F: Paisan |
| Thurs. 4/2 | D: The Path to the Nest of Spiders journal due in class |
| Tues. 4/7 | F: Night and Fog SECOND PAPER DUE |
| Thurs. 4/9 | L: Decolonization |
| Tues. 4/14 | D: *Albert
Camus, "Algeria" *Franz Fanon, "Concerning Violence" *Bruce Chatwin, "The Very Sad Story of Salah Bougrine" |
| Thurs. 4/16 | L: Stalin and After |
| Tues. 4/21 | D: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch |
| Thurs. 4/23 | L: The Politics of Everyday Life |
| Tues. 4/28 | F: La Jetée |
| Thurs. 4/30 | D: *Simone de
Beauvoir, Introduction to The Second Sex *Petra Kelly, "The System Is Broken," "Schumacher Lecture," "Thinking Green" *Vaclav Havel, "Politics & Conscience" journal due in class |
| FINAL EXAMINATION TUESDAY, MAY 5th | |
JOURNAL REQUIREMENTS
Your journal is due at the beginning of class on February 19th (minimum 5 entries), April 2nd (minimum 5 entries), and April 30th (minimum 5 entries).
You must write an entry for each reading assignment. This includes the 7 required books and the additional articles (address all the articles assigned for a particular day in a single entry) for a total of 9 entries.
You must also write an entry for each of the 7 films.
You must, over the course of your journal, write additional entries for at least 4 class meetings. These can be responses to lectures or discussions.
Your journal entries should be between 50 and 100 words. I do not expect perfectly polished prose. You should type your entries. Place each entry on a separate sheet of paper and identify its source with a title across the top. Place the entries in a folder with your name on it. Your entries for the readings should be written before the class in which we discuss the texts, though you can if you wish add entries after discussions.
The purpose of a journal is to give you the freedom to express your initial reaction to the course materials. At the same time, your journal should show a growing intellectual sophistication about the material. Avoid the "isn't this awful" response and do not summarize the material. Instead, try to understand and to contextualize the material and its implications. You may compare readings and draw upon previously discussed material to understand each text. I will specifically be looking for an intellectual effort to understand and situate the material within a historical context. I will also be looking for improvement in your understanding of the material.