AJLA24252 Twentieth Century Anglophone War Fiction

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jan Čapek, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, 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
Timetable
Thu 12:00–13:40 G32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields 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
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course will look at aspects of British memoirs, autobiography and fiction which derive their principal focus from being situated in a time of war. This semester the wars in question are the First and Second World Wars and the course will look at works by Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Ford Madox Ford, Richard Aldington and Pat Barker in relation to British experiences of World War One and two fictional trilogies by Evelyn Waugh and Olivia Manning in relation to World War II. The aim of the course will be to examine and compare the different approaches to British wartime society that each of these works provide, including the conception of English and, to some extent, British, culture which they purvey. These readings will be supplemented by extracts from histories of the two wars. By the end of the course participants will have discussed, analysed and compared the works in question and produced an essay focusing on specific aspects of issues raised during the course.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course the students will have indicated their ability to grasp the major social and cultural issues attached to the events and people involved in those British perspectives on the two world wars considered, along with a fuller understanding of notions of British, predominantly aristocratic and upper-middle class, (though with Barker, only one of two female writers included in the course, at least a glimpse of another, working-class identity is provided) as developed in the period, through study and written analysis of the relevant works of fiction and histories covered on the course.
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Oct 8thINDUCTION WEEK: NO LESSON Week 2 : Oct 15th:Introductory Week 3 : Oct 22nd:Robert Graves: Goodbye to All That;Siegfried Sassoon: Memoirs of Memoirs of an Infantry Officer: Part 10 only; David Stevenson:1914-1918: A History of the First World War: Maps and Ch.1&2 Week 4:: Oct 29th: Ford Madox Ford: No More Parades: Stevenson: Chs.3-5 Week 5 : Nov 5th:Ford Madox Ford: A Man Could Stand Up; Stevenson Ch.6-8 Week 6 : Nov 12th:Richard Aldington: Death of a Hero; Stevenson:Chs.9-11 Week 7: READING WEEK: NO LESSON Week 8 : Nov 26thPat Barker:Regeneration;David Jones: In Parenthesis: Parts I-IV,VII;Stevenson: Chs. 12-14 Week 9:Dec.3rd:Pat Barker:The Eye in the Door&The Ghost Road; Stevenson:Chs.18-20 Week 10:Dec: 10th:Evelyn Waugh: Men at Arms/ Officers and Gentlemen (1); Peter Calvocoressi et al.:Total War: The Causes and Courses of the Second World War: Volume One: The Western Hemisphere:: Part One: Chs.1-4 Week 11 : Dec 17th:Evelyn Waugh: Officers and Gentlemen(2)/Unconditional Surrender; AJP Taylor: The Origins of the Second World War Chs.8 (The The Crisis over Czechoslovakia) and 9 (Peace for Six Months) Week 12: Olivia Manning: The Levant Trilogy (1); Peter Calvocoressi et al: Total War: The Courses and Courses of the Second World War: Chs. 5-8 Week 13:Olivia Manning: The Levant Trilogy(2); Calvocoressi et al: Ch.17,20, 23, Epilogue
Literature
  • Stevenson, David 1914-1918: The History of the First World War London Penguin 2004
  • Calvocoressi, Peter et al Total War: The Causes and the Courses of the Second World War (1989) London Penguin
  • Taylor, AJP The Origins of the Second World War(1964) Harmondsworth Penguin
  • FORD, Ford Madox. Parade's end. Edited by Robert Hampson - Andrew Purssell. 1st pub. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 2013, xxiv, 744. ISBN 9781840227192. info
  • BARKER, Pat. The ghost road. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1996, 277 s. ISBN 0-14-023628-7. info
  • BARKER, Pat. The eye in the door. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1994, 280 s. ISBN 0-14-016878-8. info
  • BARKER, Pat. Regeneration. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1992, 251 s. ISBN 0-14-012308-3. info
  • MANNING, Olivia. The levant trilogy. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1982, 3 sv. ISBN 0140059628. info
  • LAWRENCE, T. E. Seven Pillars of Wisdom. V. Británie: Penguin, 1978, 700 s. ISBN 0140016961. info
  • WAUGH, Evelyn. Men at arms. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1964, 245 s. info
  • WAUGH, Evelyn. Officers and gentlemen. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1964, 248 s. info
  • WAUGH, Evelyn. Unconditional surrender. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1964, 239 s. info
Teaching methods
The course will be taught through a combination of close reading and discussion and participants will be further required to submit an essay analysing specific elements covered in relation to the course. History materials are available on ELF. Graves, Sassoon, Aldington and Ford are available on the internet (Ford also in a good, cheap Wordsworth edition). Barker, Waugh and Manning only through e-prezencka from the faculty library.
Assessment methods
The course will be assessed in terms of attendance and oral contribution (40%) and an essay of 8-10 pages(60%). Type size 12. Essays should be submitted to my IS e-mail address.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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