Module Identifier |
EL10920 |
Module Title |
IMAGES OF EUROPE: THE EUROPEAN IMAGINATION |
Academic Year |
2005/2006 |
Co-ordinator |
Dr Andrew J Hussey |
Semester |
Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters) |
Other staff |
Mr Agustin De Burgos Lopez, Dr Jane Wilkinson, Dr Andrew J Hussey |
Assessment |
Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
Semester Exam | 2 Hours two essay questions | 60% |
Semester Assessment | 2 x 1500 word essay | 40% |
Supplementary Exam | 1 x 2 hour examination if continuous assessment submitted. 1 x 3-hour examination if no continuous assessment submitted. | 100% |
|
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Situate debates on the issues of representation across diverse forms of narrative
- Articulate and show awareness of these debates in relation to the notion of 'Europe'
- Have an understanding of how specific European identities have been constructed in literary, political and aesthetic terms
- Demonstrate a grasp of the relationship between form and content in specific European contexts
Brief description
The aim of this course is to examine the construction of a specifically 'European' identity in each country and to consider to what extent these identities compare and contrast with each other. The objectives are to provide a broad understanding of the history and present meaning of the word 'European', and to identify cultural and political nuances across diverse forms of narrative. Specific issues which will be raised are the representation of the European city (Paris), European and non-European identities (with reference to German literature and the writings of Michel Houellebecq) and the experience of European war (Spain).
In the focused context of seminar work, students will be able to discuss issues with detailed reference to specific European cultures. Students will acquire a variety of critical approaches, and develop an informed awareness of the possibilities available to them as readers and critics. Thematically organised lectures provide a frame of reference on which students will draw in their close readings in seminars.
The module will be open to students outside the Department and presupposes no linguistic competence. The module is deliberately 'thin' in order to allow students, over the duration of the module, to assimilate the ideas concerend and to deepen their understanding of the general themes.
Content
LIST OF TOPICS/LECTURES
Introduction: 2 lectures, one seminar, weeks 1-2
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Images of Europe: An introduction to the representation of Europe (Dr A Hussey)
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Europe Inside Out: The problem(s) of writing Europe (Dr A Hussey)
Europe and France: 4 lectures, one seminar, weeks 3-6
-
'Paris, Capital of Europe?', lecture on Paris and 'Amelie' (Dr A Hussey)
-
'Sounds of the cite', lecture on 'La Haine' (Dr A Hussey)
-
'The painting of modern life', lecture on Baudelaire and the city (Dr H Williams)
-
'Parisian scenes', lecture on Baudelaire and Paris (Dr H Williams)
Germany and Europe: 5 lectures, one seminar, weeks 7-11
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Orient, Occident, Christendom and Europe (Hegel and Novalis) (Dr Greg Moore)
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Germanic Europe: Richard Wagner's essay 'What is German?' (Dr Greg Moore)
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'Mitteleuropa': The Decline and Fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Joseph Roth's 'The Radetzky March' (Dr Greg Moore)
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(continued)
-
Europe in Exile: Jewish Identity in Post-Holocaust Europe. W G Sebald's 'The Emigrants' (Dr Greg Moore)
Europe and Spain: 5 lectures, one seminar, weeks 12-16
-
El Greco, Velazquez, Goya: Images of the Spanish problem (Prof. R G Havard)
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Europe in Spain: The Spanish Civil War (1) (Prof. R G Havard)
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Spain in Europe: Franco's Crusade against Communism [Spanish Civil War (2)] (Prof. R G Havard)
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Ramon Sender: 'Requiem for a Spanish Peasant' (Prof R G Havard)
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Ramon Sender: Church versus People (Prof R G Havard)
Europe and its Others: 4 lectures, on seminar, weeks 17-20
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'The trouble with Michel' , lecture on Michel Houellebecq as a European phenomenon (Dr A Hussey)
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'Europe is dead', lecture on Houellebecq's 'Atomised' (Dr A Hussey)
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'Decline of the West', lecture on Houellebecq's 'Platform' (Dr A Hussey)
-
'The Clash of Civilisations', lecture on Houellebecq and Islamic Fundamentalism (Dr A Hussey)
Conclusion: 2 lectures, one seminar
-
Frontier Myths: Writing and representing European identities (Dr A Hussey)
-
The End of Europe? Defining Europe in the 21st Century (Dr A Hussey)
Module Skills
Reading Lists
Books
** Supplementary Text
Jeunet, Jean-Pierre Amelie
Momentum Pictures
Houellebecq, Michel Atomised
Heinemann 434007935
Brook Austrians
London : Harper Collins 2553848
Evans, Margery A. Baudelaire and Intertextuality
Camb.U.P. 521365082
Contemporary German Cultural Studies
Arnold 340764015
Goldscheider, L. El Greco
edition 2nd ed . 1949
Davies, Norman Europe
Oxf.U.P. 198201710
Ardagh, John Germany and the Germans
edition 3r.e.of "Germany and the Germans" . Penguin 140252665
Glendinning, Nigel Goya and His Critics
Yale U.P. 300020112
Tomlinson, Janis A. Painting in Spain
Weidenfeld & N. 297836293
Said, Edward W. Orientalism
Routledge 710000405
Hegel (1984) Lectures on the philosophy of history
London : Bell
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (Firm) La Haine
New York PolyGram Video
Brown, Jonathan Images and Ideas in Seventeenth-Century Spanish Painting
Princeton U.P. 691003157
Atkinson history of Spain and Portugal
Penguin
Klingender Goya in the democratic tradition
edition New ed . Sidgwick & Jackson 283980389
Gassier, Pierre Goya
Thames & H. 500090750
French Cultural Studies
Oxf.U.P. 198715013
Harris, Enriqueta Velazquez
Phaidon P. 714822310
Brown, Jonathan Velazquez
Yale U.P. 300072937
Davies, David Velasquez in Seville
New Haven ; London : Yale University Press 300069499
Brown, Jonathan "Velzquez, painter and courtier"
Yale University Press
Scott, Clive Translating Baudelaire
Univ.Exeter P. 859896587
Ritter, Gerhard The German problem
Ohio State University Press
Baudelaire, Charles The flowers of evil
Oxford University Press
Gudiol Ricart The complete paintings of Velazquez
New York : Greenwich House
Jordan, William B. Spanish Still Life from Velazquez to Goya
National Gallery Publications 1857090640
Roth, Joseph "Radetzky March, The"
edition n.e. . Penguin 141185279
Stoljar, Margaret Mahony Philosophical Writings
Albany
Prendergast, Christopher Paris and the Nineteenth Century
edition n.e. . Blackwell 631196943
Sebald, W.G. "Emigrants, The"
Harvill P. 186046128X
Berman Cultural studies of modern Germany
Madison, Wis. ; London : University of Wisconsin Press 299140148
Ward Baudelaire and the poetics of modernity
Vanderbilt University Press
Lloyd, Rosemary Baudelaire's world
Cornell University Press
Journals
Hussey, Andrew (2002) New statesman The Pornographer's Manifesto http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=new+statesman&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20
edition September 35-36. London : New Statesman 13647431
Hussey, Andrew (2000) Planet : the Welsh internationalist The Dubious Moral Universe of Michel Houellebecq http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=planet+the+welsh+internationalist&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20
pages 53-58. Llangeitho 484288
Crowley, Martin (2002) Romance studies The Wreckage of Liberation http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=romance+studies&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20
edition 20 part 1 pages . 2639904
Web Page/Sites
BBC Four Documentaries http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/
The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Les Inrockuptibles, Le Figaro, El Pais, Die Welt http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/webvoy.htm
What is German? (Wagner, Richard) http://www.inf.aber.ac.uk/subject/eurolang/
Official site of Michel Houellebecq http://houellebecq.info
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4