Proseminar: American War Literature

obligatory courses
proseminars

This seminar hinges on the assumption that American wars are key nodes of American intellectual, social, political history. This is especially true of the wars as they are expressed, recorded, reimagined, commemorated, in literature and other creative arts. American war literature will be studied as reflecting major shifts in American consciousness, political social history, and aesthetics. The seminar will begin with discussions of selected texts which should provoke fresh research questions and ultimately good manageable topics for BA papers.

Steinbeck once wrote that "all war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal" but this course will hinge on the assumption that American wars in fact offer key slices of American intellectual, social, and political history. This is especially true of the wars as they are expressed, recorded, reimagined, commemorated, in great works of literature. The seminar will revolve around several American wars--the Civil War, World War I, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War. We will move from Natasha Trethewey’s interrogation of the memory of the Civil War to War on Terror as represented by alienated, estranged Native Americans. American war literature will be studied as reflecting major shifts in American consciousness, political social history, and aesthetics. The aim is to identify interesting themes and approaches to be drawn upon in the process of developing the conception and methodology of would-be BA papers.

Primary literature

William March, Company K

William Faulkner, The Unvanquished

Ambrose Bierce, selected stories

Randall Jarrell, WWII poems

Natasha Trethewey, Native Guard

Adrian C. Louis, Evil Corn

Secondary literature

1. Lorrie Goldensohn, ed. American War Poetry: An Anthology (Columbia University Press, 2006), ISBN 0231133103

2. Faith Barrett and Cristanne Miller, eds. "Words for the Hour": A New Anthology of American Civil War Poetry (University of Massachusetts Press, 2005) ISBN-10: 1558495096

3. Diederik Oostdijk, Among the Nightmare Fighters: American Poets of World War II (University of South Carolina Press, 2011) ISBN-10: 157003995X

4. Susan Schweik, A Gulf So Deeply Cut: American Women Poets and the Second World War (University of Wisconsin, 1991) ISBN-10: 0299130444

5. Kate McLoughlin, ed. The Cambridge Companion to War Writing (Cambridge University Press, 2009) ISBN-10: 0521720044

8. Lorrie Goldensohn, Dismantling Glory: Twentieth-Century Soldier Poetry (Columbia University Press, 2006) ISBN-10: 0231119399

9. Philip Metres, “With Ambush and Stratagem”: American poetry in the Age of Pure War” from Oxford Handbook of Modern and Contemporary American Poetry by Cary Nelson, 331-368.

KNOWLEDGE

The student knows and understands:

- how American war literature reflects and influences the development of American literature

- how changing Western views on war are expressed in American poetry

- the historical and ideological contexts of American war poetry

- the importance of literature and art on war topics for the citizen of a democratic state

- the significance of reflection on wars conducted by the United States

- the importance of academic integrity

SKILLS

The student is able to:

- formulate a research problem for the purpose of a bachelor's thesis

- formulate research questions

- construct a complex and multi-threaded argument in support of their thesis

- prepare written works in English

- participate, under the guidance of a supervisor, in the preparation of research projects concerning the USA

SOCIAL COMPETENCIES

The student is ready for:

- working in a group, assuming different roles within it, and expressing their own opinions

To complete the BA seminar you have to:

1. Attendance – each student is allowed to have two absences. Period. Save the two allowed absences for the days when you get ill.

2. Actively participate in the classes.

3. Meet all the four main deadlines for the conceptualization, research, outline, and completion of the BA thesis.

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