AJL16072 British Empire and Imperialism: Narratives

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ01002 Practical English II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This semester's course will focus on aspects of the history of the British Empire from its beginnings to its slow demise in the twentieth century, but also its residue and implications. At the same time, the initial, literary focus, will be on a series of fictions produced in the first part of the twentieth century and set in parts of the British Empire, a focus including consideration of novels by Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, E.M. Forster, George Orwell, and Graham Greene and the television series 'The Jewel in the Crown' (based on Paul Scott's 'The Raj Quartet'. By the end of the course students will have read and discussed these elements and have produced an essay analysing aspects of factual and fictional (or both) treatments of the relevant areas.Students will emerge from the course having indicated an ability to analyse and combine historical and fictional perspectives on the British Empire and imperialism having produced an essay concerned with an aspect of either or both of these perspectives.
Learning outcomes
Students completing the course will have gained a better understanding of the nature and concerns of the British Empire, as negotiated both by historians and by major works by twentieth century novelists examining the precise values, expressions, and impact of British imperialism.
Syllabus
  • Week 1:Feb 23rd: Introductory Week 2:March 1st: R. Kipling:Kim (1)Ch.1-8;Plain Tales From the Hills(1)('Thrown Away'; 'Yoked With an Unbeliever';'His Chance in Life'; 'Consequences';'A Germ Destroyer; 'Kidnapped'; Lawrence James: The Rise and Fall of the British Empire: 'The Terror of Our Arms' and 'Power and Greatness'; N. Canny: The Origins of Empire; Rodger: Power and Empire Week 3: March 8th: R. Kipling: Kim (2)Ch. 9-15; Plain Tales from the Hills (2)('His Wedded Wife', 'Beyond the Pale'; 'The Daughter of the Regiment'; 'The Bisara of Pooree; 'The Story of Muhammad Din';Eric Hobsbawm : The Age of Empire: Ch.3: 'The Age of Empire' (pp. 56-83); P. O'Brien: Separable Connections; J. Horn: British Diaspora Week 4:March 15th: J.Conrad:Nostromo (1); M.Duffy: World/Wide War and British Expansion;R. Sheridan: The Formation of Caribbean Plantation Week 5: March 22nd: J. Conrad: Nostromo; Marshall:Lawrence James (2): 'The Mission of Our Race' (pp.200-234) and 'The Miracle of the World' (pp.235-249); The British D. Richardson: The British Empire and Atlantic Slavery;P. Marshall:The British in Asia Week 6: March 29th: J. Conrad: Nostromo; Lawrence James (3): 'A new Force and Power : India: 1919-42'(pp. 412-427); 'The Middle-East : 1919-42' (pp.394-411). A. Porter: Britain and Empire in the Nineteenth Century; R.Moore: Imperial India 1858-1914 Week 7: April 6th:E.M. Forster: A Passage to India:Lawrence James (4): 'Friendly Relations: India and the Liquidation of Empire' 1945-7 (pp.542-558); The World As it Is: Middle Eastern Misadventures: 1945-56 (pp.559-572);Roger Louis: Introduction Week 8: April 13th:E.M. Forster: A Passage to India:Lawrence James (5) 'Kick Their Backsides: The Suez War and Beyond' (pp.573-587); 'Unfinished Business: 1979-1998 (pp. 622-639); J. Cell: Colonial Rule Week 9: April 20th: READING WEEK: NO LESSON Week 10:April 27th: George Orwell: Burmese Days Holland: British Empire and the Great War;R.Hyam: British Empire in the Edwardian Era Week 11:May 4th: Graham Greene: The Heart of the Matter (1); G. Balfour-Paul:Britain's Informal Empire in the Middle-East; A. Knight: Latin America: L. James: 'A Great English-Speaking Country: S.Africa (pp.251-268); 'The Great Blessing That Africa Has Known' : East and West Africa (pp.268-306); Week 12: May 11th:Graham Greene: The Heart of the Matter (2);Lawrence James (6) K. Jeffery: The Second World War; W.M. Roger Louis: The Dissolution of the British Empire Week 13: May 18th: 'The Jewel in the Crown'; Lawrence James (7); R. O'Hanlon: Gender in the British Empire; F. Robinson: The British Empire and the Muslim World
Literature
    required literature
  • James, Lawrence The Rise and Fall of the British Empire London Abacus (1998)
  • ORWELL, George. Burmese days. London: Penguin Books, 2002, 299 s. ISBN 0141187182. info
  • CONRAD, Joseph. Nostromo : a tale of the seaboard. Edited by Martin Seymour-Smith. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1990, 474 s. ISBN 014018371X. info
  • KIPLING, Rudyard. Kim. Edited by Alan Sandison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987, xxxviii, 3. ISBN 0192816519. info
  • GREENE, Graham. The heart of the matter. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1962, 263 s. info
  • FORSTER, E. M. A passage to India. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1961, 316 s. ISBN 0140000488. info
    recommended literature
  • The Oxford History of the British Empire Vols. I-IV (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998-99))
Teaching methods
The course will be taught by a combination of close and background reading and small-group and class discussion. By the end of the course the students will have written an essay analysing aspects of the British Empire and imperalism from historical or fictional perspectives or a combination of the two.
Assessment methods
Assessment will be by attendance and class contribution (40%) and a 6-10 page essay (60%).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught: every week.
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