S The First World War in British Literature and Culture: A Centennial History

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COURSE OUTLINE

3.02.121 S The First World War in British Literature and Culture: A Centennial History

  • [Module] ang612 - Periods and Key Figures in Literary and Cultural History
  • [Credits] 6 KP
  • [Instructor] Dr. Christian Lassen
  • [Time] Wednesday, 08.15 am - 09.45 am
  • [Room] A01 0-010b
  • [Description] The First World War has left a lasting legacy on British cultural memory up until today. Redefining modern warfare, the horrors of the trenches and the first gas attacks led to bloodshed of hitherto unknown dimensions. And from among the soldiers who actually returned to Britain alive many suffered from shell shock and its irreversible psychological damage. Apart from the many devastating personal effects, the 'Great War' rearranged European society in ways that profoundly disrupted established political alliances and eventually caused conflicts not only between Britons and Germans, but also between soldiers and civilians, front and homefront, men and women as well as the old and the young. Throughout the last 100 years, this defining period of twentieth-century Europe has triggered countless cultural and literary representations of war and trauma. Among these we find works as artistically diverse as the war poetry of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon; the autobiographies of Robert Graves and Vera Brittain; Virginia Woolf's post-war novel Mrs. Dalloway, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem; Pat Barker's historiographic metafiction Regeneration Trilogy, Alan Hollinghurst's novel The Stranger's Child, as well as various movies like Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory, Christian Carion's Merry Christmas, Steven Spielberg's War Horse, and, more recently, Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front, to name but a few. Focusing on the iconic figure of the soldier-poet and their representation, this seminar traces the social and cultural changes brought about by the First World War, thereby touching on issues as varied as public school education and early war enthusiasm, propaganda and recruiting, shell shock and trauma, comradeship, women's suffrage, pastoral and anti-pastoral poetry, and the constructedness of the (heroic) image of the soldier-poet.
  • [Office Hours] Wednesday, 11.00 am - 12.00 am (online)


PRIMARY TEXTS (Mandatory Texts)

Poetry Anthology

  • Walter, George, ed. The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry. London: Penguin, 2006. Print. (excerpts, see below) [ISBN: 978-0141181905]

Novels

  • Barker, Pat. Regeneration. 1991. London: Penguin, 2008. Print. [ISBN: 978-0141030937]
  • Woolf, Virginia. Mrs Dalloway. 1925. Oxford: OUP, 2008. Print. [ISBN: 978-0199536009]
  • Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger's Child. 2011. London: Picador, 2023. [ISBN:978-1035028009]


ASSIGNMENTS

  • [Prüfungsleistung] Gruppenreferat (max. 3 Personen; ca. 20 Folien) mit Schriftlicher Ausarbeitung (10 Seiten) [oder in Ausnahmefällen: Hausarbeit (15 Seiten)]
  • [Aktive Teilnahme] Regular Attendance (cf. Richtlinien der BPO, Fakultät III, Studiendekanat), Course Preparation (i.e. watching the asynchronous presentations), 4 Abstracts

Please note that written assignments (abstracts, short term papers, long term papers) need to be composed according to the style sheet ("Leitfaden") of the University of Oldenburg, which can be accessed via the 'Institutswiki'-page of the English department. The style sheet not only provides relevant information on how to write a correct bibliography but it may also help you to structure your work according to academic standards.

Please make sure to sign the "Erklärung zum 'Plagiat'" and to attach it to your research papers.

  • [Abgabefrist] 15. März 2025.




Session 01, October 16: Introduction

Organisational Matters

  • Assignments

Assignments are graded and mandatory. In order to obtain 6 credits (KP), you will have to give an (group) presentation (Referat, 20 Folien) on one of the presentation topics specified in the syllabus. In addition to that, you will have to hand in a short term paper (Ausarbeitung, 10 Seiten) by the end of term (15. März). In exceptional cases, you may hand in a long term paper (Hausarbeit, 15 Seiten) instead of the above. However, an exception is only granted upon prior consultation.

  • Presentation Topics, Presentation Groups

Presentation Topics are specified in your syllabus. In order to prepare your presentations, please pick a topic, get together in groups (see below) and write up a power-point presentation. Save the file and send it on to me so that we can discuss your presentation in your preparatory session. Preparatory sessions take place one week before your presentation is due, i.e. at the end of the session preceding your presentation. After the preparatory session, revise your presentation and make your file available on Stud.IP on the Friday before your presentation is due so that all participants can read/ watch the presentation in time, i.e. before the session.

Requests regarding your choice of presentation topics can be send to me via e-mail, starting on Wednesday, October 02. Please send me three possible presentation topics and prioritise them according to your preferences. I will sign you in in the order of the requests' arrival. Please check this page regularly to see if your requests have been met.

  • Active Participation

Active Participation is ungraded but mandatory. In order to fulfil the requirements, you will have to attend class regularly (cf. BPO, FK III) and prepare the presentations prior to the relevant sessions. Moreover, you will have to write four abstracts, each including a topic, a state of research, a thesis statement, and a brief outline of your argument (approx. 1 page), in the course of the seminar. You can choose your own topic; however: all abstracts have to address different primary texts. In other words, your abstracts will have to cover the four primary materials from the course. Abstracts are due by the end of the week (i.e. Friday) that marks the ending of the respective sections, i.e. due date War Poetry: November 15; due date Regeneration: November 29; due date Mrs Dalloway: December 13; due date The Stranger's Child January 24) 

   Summary: Presentations

1. Pick a presentation topic and contact me via e-mail (starting October 02). Check below for available places. Presentation groups may consist of max. 3 people. Send me three suggestions and prioritise them accoording to preference.

2. Contact the other members of your group and prepare your presentation, i.e. power-point presentation.

3. Send me your presentation at least 8 days before your presentation is scheduled.

4. Discuss your presentation with me in your preparatory session 7 days, i.e week, before your presentation is scheduled. Preparatory sessions take place during the second part of class, i.e. Wednesday 9.30 am - 9.45 am.

5. Revise and upload your file on the Friday before your presentation is scheduled.

6. Give your presentation in class.

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Jule Behrens, Sophie Book

Session 02, October 23: War Enthusiasm

Primary Material

  • Rupert Brooke. "The Soldier."
  • ─. "Peace."
  • ─. "Safety."
  • Julian Grenfell. "Into Battle."
  • John Masefield. "August 1914."
  • John McCrae. "In Flanders Fields."

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Public-School Education and Male Homosociality, or: the Pedagogy of Patriotism
  • Presentation Group: Jule Behrens, Sophie Book

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Marie-Luise Freude, Melina Sophie Wehrhagen, Yasmin Abu Shameh

Session 03, October 30: Home Front Propaganda

Primary Material

  • Pope, Jessie. "The Call."
  • ─. "The Beau Ideal."
  • Mackintosh, E.A. "Recruiting."
  • Sassoon, Siegfried. "They."
  • Brittain, Vera. "The War Generation: Ave."

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • War Propaganda, or: Media, Affect, and the Language of Recruiting
  • Presentation Group: Marie-Luise Freude, Melina Sophie Wehrhagen, Yasmin Abu Shameh

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Patrick Kreyenborg, Jaqueline Schulte, Maximilian Helms

Session 04, November 06: Stalemate

Primary Material

  • Isaac Rosenberg. "Break of Day in the Trenches."
  • ─. "Returning We Hear the Larks."
  • Wilfred Owen. "Anthem for Doomed Youth."
  • ─. "Dulce et Decorum Est."
  • ─. "Strange Meeting."

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Trench Poets, or: Modern Warfare, Nature, and the Anti-Pastoral Elegy
  • Presentation Group: Patrick Kreyenborg, Jaqueline Schulte, Maximilian Helms

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Wiebke Marken, Pia Nels, Johanna Rose

Session 05, November 13: Comradeship

Primary Material

  • Wilfred Owen. "Greater Love"
  • ─. "Apologia pro Poemate Meo"
  • Ivor Gurney. "Sonnets 1917: Servitude"
  • ─. "To his Love"
  • Siegfried Sassoon. "Banishment"

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Brothers in (Each Other's) Arms, or: the Homoerotics of Comradeship
  • Presentation Group: Wiebke Marken, Pia Nels, Johanna Rose

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Beata Gorecka, Hannah Bromberger-Wölbling, Aron Breuer

Session 06, November 20: Shell Shock

Primary Material

  • Barker, Pat. Regeneration. 1991.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Shell Shock Male (alias Male Hysteria), or: Representing the Traumatised Soldier in Pat Barker's Regeneration
  • Presentation Group: Beata Gorecka, Hannah Bromberger-Wölbling, Aron Breuer

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Amelie Ahrens, Marie König, Emma Scheil

Session 07, November 27: The Talking Cure

Primary Material

  • Barker, Pat. Regeneration. 1991.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Craiglockhart War Hospital, or: The First World War and the Uses of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in Pat Barker's Regeneration
  • Presentation Group: Amelie Ahrens, Marie König, Emma Scheil

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Elisa Stevens, Ann Kathrin Todt

Session 08, December 04: Trauma

Primary Material

  • Woolf, Virginia. Mrs Dalloway. 1925.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori", or: Mental Health Crises, Stream-of-Consciousness Literature, and the Representation of Trauma in Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway
  • Presentation Group: Elisa Stevens, Ann Kathrin Todt

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Marieke Trenn, Emelie Klusmann, Charles Good

Session 09, December 11: Post-War Britain

Primary Material

  • Woolf, Virginia. Mrs Dalloway. 1925.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Clarissa and Her Kind, or: Post-War London, Civilian Incomprehension, and the Deconstruction of Traditional Gender Roles in Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway
  • Presentation Group: Marieke Trenn, Emelie Klusmann, Charles Good

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Samuel Jarquin Avellan, Philipp Klingelhöfer, Lee Binra

Session 10, December 18: Mid-term Recap

  • Recap
  • Feedback Session
  • Work in Progress

Session 11, January 08: Historiographic Metafiction

Primary Material

  • Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger's Child. 2011.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • History as Narrative, or: Subjective Constructions of the Past and the Truth Claims of (Literary) 'History' in Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child
  • Presentation Group: Samuel Jarquin Avellan, Philipp Klingelhöfer, Lee Binra

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Joline Seliga, Christian Visser, Talea Erdwiens

Session 12, January 15: Identity Construction

Primary Material

  • Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger's Child. 2011.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

  • TBA

Presentation

  • War Heroes Revisited, or: De-constructing the Image of the Soldier Poet in Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child
  • Presentation Group: Joline Seliga, Christian Visser, Talea Erdwiens

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group: Hannah Hein, Leonie Riehl

Session 13, January 22: Grief and Mourning

Primary Material

  • Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger's Child. 2011.

Theory Texts

Further Reading

Presentation

  • Spectral Visitations, or: Resurrecting the Dead Soldier Poet in Alan Hollingurst's The Stranger's Child
  • Presentation Group: Hannah Hein, Alexander Ifebuzor

Preparatory Session

  • Preparatory Session Group:

Session 14, January 29: RPO Session

Guidelines for finding your RPO topic:

Your RPO topic needs to be related to at least one of the primary texts 

   March 15: Term Paper Due

Please upload your paper to the folder "Ausarbeitungen und Hausarbeiten" on our Stud.IP page and send a printed copy to the address below.

Bitte stellen Sie Ihre Prüfungsleistung in den Ordner "Ausarbeitungen und Hausarbeiten" auf unserer Stud.IP-Seite ein und senden Sie eine gedruckte Fassung an die untenstehende Adresse.

Dr. Christian Lassen

Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik

Fakultät III: Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften

Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

Ammerländer Heerstraße 114-118

26129 Oldenburg

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