British War Poetry in the 20th Century 3301-LB119
Course for BA level students.
This course is designed as a full review of British attitudes to war and peace in the 20th century, particularly those of the soldier poets, who fought in the Great War, the Spanish Civil War, the Falklands War, and the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The poetry of the Great War will be discussed from the perspective of the Empire, the crisis of truth, new trends in writing about war, the image of the enemy, as well as commemorative practices.( (Jessie Pope, Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg). The Spanish Civil War will be analyzed through the poetry of W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and John Cornford. The poetry of the Second World War will be discussed according to the themes of the war poet, the difference of the 1940s war experience, the exotic landscapes of war, and the absent enemy (Keith Douglas, Alun Lewis, Sidney Keyes). The course will conclude with an overview of poetry written about the Falklands War, as well as the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge: the graduate will be able to
K_W01 Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary and culture studies within the humanities
K_W02 Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies research within English studies
K_W04 Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems
K_W05 identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright
Abilities: the graduate is able to
K_U01 Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (linguistics, literary studies, culture and religion studies)
K_U02 Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law
K_U03 Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies
K_U04 Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level
K_U05 Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline
K_U06 Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project
Social competences: the graduate is ready to
K_K02 Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
K_K03 Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies
K_K04 Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the studies
K_K06 Value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions
Education at language level B2+.
Assessment criteria
20% of absences is allowed.
Final grade on the basis of an academic essay.
Retake on the basis of a revised version of the academic essay.
Bibliography
Anthologies:
Jon Stallworthy, ed., The Oxford Book of War Poetry, Oxford University Press, 1988.
Jon Silkin, ed., First World War Poetry, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979.
'Poetry of World War I', a section of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Fifth edition, volume 2, pp. 1890-1926. New York: Norton and Co, 1986.
Valentine Cunningham, ed., The Penguin Book of Spanish Civil War Verse. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1980.
Robin Skelton, ed., Poetry of the Thirties. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971.
'Poetry of World War II' a section of The Norton Anthology, op. cit., pp. 2320-2334.
Brian Gardner, ed., The Terrible Rain: The War Poets 1939-1945. London: Magnum Books, 1977.
Desmond Graham, ed., Poetry of the Second World War: An International Anthology. London: Pimlico, 1998.
Critical texts:
Desmond Graham, The Truth of War. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1984.
Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Samuel Hynes, A War Imagined: The First World War and English Culture. London: The Bodley Head, 1990.
Samuel Hynes, The Auden Generation: Literature and Politics in England in the 1930s. London: The Bodley Head, 1976.
Linda M. Shires, British Poetry of the Second World War. London: Macmillan, 1985.
Vernon Scannell, Not Without Glory: Poets of the Second World War. London: The Woburn Press, 1976.
Jacek Wiśniewski, Mars and the Muse: Attitudes to War and Peace in 20th-Century British Literature. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 1988.
Jacek Wiśniewski, Edward Thomas: A Mirror of England. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: