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2023/2024

Modernity: Art, War, and Crisis

Code: 42293 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4313157 Advanced English Studies OT 0 1

Contact

Name:
Maria Cristina Pividori Gurgo
Email:
mariacristina.pividori@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.


Prerequisites

This is an optional module that requires a keen interest and enthusiasm for reading and debating literary works in English that explore the relationship between Modernism, the First World War, and art.

All students should have a C1 level of English or its equivalent in order to take the course and be able to produce assignments at the required level for assessment. Students will be expected to engage in practical work with advanced texts in the field of literature.


Objectives and Contextualisation

 

Virginia Woolf stated that "in or about December 1910, human character changed." This thought-provoking assertion connects the two central themes of this course: Modernism and World War One. If human character underwent a transformation, so did art, and perhaps in an equally, if not more, radical way. By exploring various genres, particularly prose and poetry, we will gain an understanding of this tragic, captivating, and complex period in human and literary history. Thus, this course focuses on responses to and depictions of the Great War, as well as how literature attempted to bear witness to the trauma of the war experience. We will examine the interaction of different writings and how literature drew inspiration from political, psychoanalytical, and propagandistic ideas.

Upon completion of this course, students will attain an academic understanding of the following topics:

  • The representation of war: the distinction between witnessing, seeing, and remembering
  • "The Pity of War.
  • Heroism and disillusionment.
  • The formal aspects of Modernism.
  • The role of Modernism in history.
  • Modernism, war, and gender.

 

 


Competences

  • Analyse and synthesise information at an advanced level.
  • Analyse the relationship between factors, processes or phenomena in the acquisition of English as a second language, its learning and teaching methods, and its literature, history and culture.
  • Apply methodological knowledge of statistical analysis and data generation, treatment and codification of multilingual databases, analysis of literary texts, etc. to research.
  • Communicate the knowledge acquired and the contributions of one's research correctly, accurately and clearly both orally and in writing.
  • Critically argue, issue judgements and present ideas on the basis of the analysis of information originating from scientific production in these areas.
  • Develop autonomous learning skills applicable to the research process.
  • Distinguish and contrast between the different methodological and theoretical models applied to the academic study of the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, literary studies and cultural studies.
  • Show respect towards the opinions, values, behaviours and/or practices of others.
  • Use the English language for academic and professional purposes related to research into the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, literary studies and cultural studies.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse and interpret at an advanced level literary texts on the English Literature of Modernism (early 20th century)
  2. Analyse and interpret at an advanced level scientifically produced texts on the Modernist English Literature, extracting relevant citations and making content summaries.
  3. Analyse and synthesise information at an advanced level.
  4. Communicate the knowledge acquired and the contributions of one's research correctly, accurately and clearly both orally and in writing.
  5. Develop autonomous learning skills applicable to the research process.
  6. Distinguish and contrast the different theoretical and methodological models applied to the academic study of Modernism in the English language.
  7. Make oral presentations in English on subjects and texts related to advanced research into Modernist English Literature.
  8. Read and analyse literary and cultural representation in the English language on the subject of the impact of war on the art and literature of Modernism.
  9. Show respect towards the opinions, values, behaviours and/or practices of others.
  10. Write texts defending an idea in relation to a Modernist literary text in English, applying secondary sources to the critical argumentation.

Content

We will study the following texts in the order given. You should be familiar with them before the course starts. For the first and third texts, please obtain the specified edition. For the second and fourth, any edition will do.

1. Walter, George (ed.) The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2006.)

2. Malouf, David. Fly Away Peter.

3. Woolf, Virginia (ed. & intro. D Bradshaw) Mrs Dalloway. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009)

4. D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

 Among the topics we will discuss, we can highlight the following: 

  1. The representation of war: how should war be narrated? What values should it uphold? What role does patriotism play?
  2. What do witnessing, seeing and remembering mean in the context of the Great War?
  3. How does literature, including modernist fiction, actively engage with commemoration, memory, and understanding of war?
  4. “The Pity of War”: how should society react to mass slaughter? Should tragedy be the dominant literary form?
  5. Heroism: Was the traditional link between war and heroism affected? How? 
  6. The formal and theoretical aspects of Modernism: The Poetics of Psychoanalysis in the understanding of conflict. 
  7. War and gender: in what way did warfare alter gender roles? And sexuality?
  8. To what extent do these particular issues effect the way we understand conflict today?

Methodology

 

This subject is based on the exchange of ideas between the teacher and students, as well as among the students themselves. This will necessitate a high level of preparation and active participation from everyone. Additionally, students will be expected to deliver presentations and complete at least one in-class exercise.

In addition to mandatory attendance, it is assumed that students have thoroughly read both the primary and secondary materials. This course primarily focuses on literature but also requires a certain level of historical knowledge. Since class discussions will involve relevant historical contexts, students will be assigned additional readings throughout the course.

All information regarding these additional readings and similar tasks will be published on the Virtual Campus.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Classroom activities –1(attendance, debate) 30 1.2 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 6, 8
Type: Supervised      
Classroom activities –2 (oral presentation, in-class exam) 10 0.4 5, 6, 7, 10
Type: Autonomous      
Study, reading, and thinking 75 3 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8

Assessment

1) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT IS BASED ON:

  1. Final Paper: at the beginning of the course, the teacher will give you a list of topics/questions from which you will have to choose the topic of your final paper= 50%
  2. Other written exercises: there will be several, often ad-hoc, and including at least one in-class exercise=25%
  3. Oral assessment: based on class participation and individual presentations= 25%

PLEASE, NOTE:

  • All the exercises are COMPULSORY
  • The submission of any of the exercises invalidates the student to get a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade
  • On carrying out each assessment activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
  • In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

2) SINGLE ASSESSMENT

THE PROCEDURE FOR SINGLE ASSESSMENT IS BASED ON: 

  • 3 Evaluated items to be done in a single in-class exam: 
  • Item 1: integrating critical sources into a literary commentary (30%)
  • Item 2: Writing a critical essay (45%).
  • Item 3: Oral Presentation (25%)

REASSESSMENT:

  • Re-assessment for this subject requires a content-synthesis test for each module component.
  • Component 3 is not eligible for re-assessment.
  • The definitive grade awarded for a re-assessed itme will be 5.

VERY IMPORTANT: Students must learn to respect the intellectual property of others, identifying any source they may use, and take responsibility for the originality and authenticity of the texts they produce.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation  in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this  activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as  the final grade for this subject.

Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indiacting authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.]

 

 


Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Paper 50% 25 1 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 10
Oral assessment 25% 5 0.2 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 7
Other written exercises 25% 5 0.2 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 6, 8, 10

Bibliography

 

Basic secondary material on literature and war:

Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. London: Oxford UP, 1977.

Gilbert, ‘Sandra M. Soldier’s Heart: Literary Men, Literary Women, and The Great War’ (Signs, Vol. 8: 3, Spring 1983) pp. 422-450.

McLoughlin. Authoring War: The Literary Representation of War from The Iliad to Iraq. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011.

Owen, David and Pividori, Cristina. Writings of Persuasion and Dissonance in the Great War. That Better Whiles May Follow Worse. The Netherlands: Brill, 2016.

Pividori, Cristina. "Eros and Thanatos Revisited: the Poetics of Trauma in Rebecca West's "The Return of the Soldier"  Atlantis. 32.2 (2010): 89-104. 

---. "Of Heroes, Ghosts, and Witnesses: the Construction of Masculine Identity in the War Poets' Narratives." Journal of War & Culture Studies. 7.2 (2014): 162-178. 

---.  "Impressions from the Front: the Crisis of the Witness in Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End." in David Owen and Cristina Pividori (eds) Writings of Persuasion and Dissonance in the Great War. That Better Whiles May Follow Worse. The Netherlands: Brill:  106-120. 

Saunders, Nicholas.  Matters of Conflict: Material Culture, Memory and the First World War. Taylor & Francis, 2004.

Tylee, Claire. The Great War and Women’s Consciousness: Images of Militarism and Womanhood in Women’s Writings: 1914-1964. Iowa City: Iowa UP, 1990.

Winter, Jay. Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995.

 

Basic secondary material on modernism:

Booth, Allyson. Postcards from the Trenches: Negotiating the Space between Modernism and the First World War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 

Cole, Sarah. Modernism, Male Friendship, and the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 

Goldman, Jane. Modernism, 1910-1945: Image toApocalypse. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2004.

Hawkes, Rob. Ford Madox Ford and the Misfit Moderns: Edwardian Fiction and the First World War. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 

(ed.) Levenson, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to Modernism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011.

Sherry, Vincent B. The Great War and the Language of Modernism. New York: Oxford UP, 2003.

Tate, Trudi. Modernism, History and the First World War. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1998.

 

Basic secondary material on World War One:

Anievas, Alexander. Cataclysm 1914: The First World War and the Making of Modern World Politics. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2016. 

Howard, Michael. The First World War. New York: Oxford UP, 2002

Mazower, Mark. Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century. Harmondsworth:Penguin, 2003.

Sheffield, Gary. Forgotten Victory: The First World War, Myth and Realities. London: Headline, 2001.

Stiener, Zara S. Britain and the Origins of the First World War. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003.


Software

International Society for First World War Studies: https://www.firstworldwarstudies.org/

Imperial War Museum: https://www.iwm.org.uk/