72 Contemporary British Literature & Culture V41.0607.001/ Spring ...

Contemporary British Literature & Culture
V41.0607.001/ Spring 2005 Mon/Wed 12.30-1.45pm / Main 808
Patrick Deer/Email: patrick.deer@nyu.edu
Office Hours: Tues 4.00-6.00pm (And by Appointment)
19 University Place, Rm 511 / Tel: 212-992-9596
Contemporary British Literature and Culture
How have British writers responded to the end of empire, Cold War, economic decline
and radical changes in racial and sexual politics? This course offers an introduction to
contemporary British culture in an era of profound political and economic change and
social upheaval. We will explore novels, poetry, music and film profoundly influenced
by the shadow of war, by immigration from the former colonies, by dramatic shifts in
gender relations and sexuality, by class conflict and deindustrialization, environmental
catastrophe, and by the potential Abreak up@ of Britain. Caught between an ambivalent
Aspecial relationship@ with America and a technocratic European superstate, how has
British culture adapted to its uneasy geopolitical position? How does a nation so
obsessed with images of its past traditions remain at the cutting edge of music and
popular culture? What is Britain=s position in the global cultural economy? We will
examine a range of avant-garde, postcolonial and Apopular@ texts which challenge
received notions of AEnglishness.@ Particular attention will be paid to the interaction
between literature and other cultural forms such as cinema, popular music and sport.
Required texts
Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited (Back Bay Books)
George Orwell, 1984 (Signet)
Samuel Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (Longman)
Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim (Viking Penguin)
John Osborne, Look Back in Anger (Penguin)
Ian Fleming, Dr. No (Penguin)
Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Harper Perennial)
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange (WW Norton)
Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine (Samuel French)
Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (Picador USA)
Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day (Vintage International)
All of the required texts are available at the NYU Bookstore. All other readings on the
syllabus will be included in the Course Packet.
Course packet
A required course packet will be available for purchase at Advanced Copy on La Guardia
Place (between West 3 rd and Bleecker St, tel: 212-388-1001.).
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Course Requirements:
Section participation (10%); two short papers (10%, 15%); final paper or project (40%);
final examination (25%).
Sections:
Discussion sections (“recitations”) meet once per week. You must enroll in a section
when you enroll in the course. Attendance is mandatory. The following sections are
scheduled:
W 3.30-4.45pm #74281 SILV 711
W 3.30-4.45pm
#74282 WAVE 668
W 4.55-6.10pm #74284 194M 301
W 4.55-6.10pm
#74287 25 W4 C4
Jessie Morgan Owens
Carmelo Larose
jmo242@nyu.edu
cl513@nyu.edu
Policies:
Attendance: Attendance in lecture and section is mandatory. More than two unexcused
absences will cause your final grade to drop. Consistent tardiness will count as one
absence.
Writing Assignments: In addition to brief weekly writing assignments assigned by your
section preceptor, students will write three papers, and a final exam. The first paper, due
February 9, will be a five page close textual analysis of a short selection from a novel. A
set of selections will be provided by your section preceptor. A list of topics for your
second five page paper, due March 9, will be distributed in class. The proposal for the
final eight page paper or research project is due April 13, and the final paper April 29.
Each essay will be read by more than one reader, and papers will be rigorously
scrutinized to be sure that sources, if used, are properly credited.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism or academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated.
Plagiarism is an extremely serious academic offense: it will result in failure of the course
and will be reported to your dean. You should familiarize yourself with the section on
plagiarism in the MLA Handbook and with the handout attached detailing the College of
Art and Science’s “Statement of Academic Integrity” (also to be found at:
www.nyu.edu/cas/map/integrity.html).
Essay Format: All papers must be typed, double-spaced, left-justified only, pagenumbered
and stapled. Please include your name, course section, due date and my name
on the front page of each paper. Each essay should have a title. Please proofread your
work carefully.
Grading: 90% of your final grade will be based on your written work. The remaining
10% will be determined by reading responses, participation, and attendance. Class
discussion is an important part of the course and your in class participation will be
factored into your grade.
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Required Viewings:
See February 9 th , March 2 nd , and April 13 th on the schedule below. Available at
the Avery Fisher Center in Bobst Library and at almost every video store.
The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed, 1949, UK, 104 min) NYU Bobst AFisher VCA
285
Dr. No (dir. Terence Young, 1958, UK, 105 min) AFisher On Reserve
My Beautiful Laundrette (dir. Stephen Frears, 1985, UK, 97 min) Bobst AFisher
VCA 2335
Suggested films:
Kind Hearts and Coronets (dir. Robert Hamer, 1949)
Bridge On the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960)
A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961)
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
This Sporting Life (Lindsay Andersen, 1963)
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (S. Kubrick,
1964)
Performance (Nicholas Roeg, 1971)
A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
The Great Rock and Roll Swindle (Julian Temple, 1979)
Rude Boy (Jack Hazan/David Mingay, 1980)
The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980)
Meantime (Mike Leigh, 1981, TV)
Local Hero (Bill Forsyth, 1983)
Raining Stones (Ken Loach, 1993)
Small Faces (Gillies Mackinnon, 1995)
The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996)
Bhaji on the Beach (Gurinder Chada, 1993)
Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996)
Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)
The Filth and the Fury (Julian Temple, 2001)
Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2003)
Course Schedule (Revised)
Week 1
W 1/19 Introduction
Week 2
M 1/24
Fortress Britain
Winston Churchill, “Two Speeches to the House of Commons”;
Virginia Woolf, “Thoughts of Peace in an Air Raid,” & from
Diaries Vol 5; Henry Green, “The Rescue,” “Mr. Jonas,” “The
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Lull”; Elizabeth Bowen, “The Demon Lover,” “Mysterious Kôr,”
“Careless Talk,” & “Preface to The Demon Lover”; Dylan Thomas,
“A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”;
George Orwell, “England Your England” (Course Packet)
W 1/26
Poetry of The People’s War
Land War: Keith Douglas, “Simplify Me When I’m Dead,”
“Vergissmeinicht,” “How to Kill,” “‘I Think I am Becoming a
God’,” “Desert Flowers”; Alun Lewis, “All Day It Has Rained,”;
Henry Reed, “The Naming of Parts” and “Judging Distances,”
from Lessons of the War; Donald Bain, “War Poet”; “Julian
Maclaren-Ross, “They Can’t Give You a Baby,” from Memoirs of
the Forties
War at Sea: Roy Fuller, “The Middle of a War,” “War Poet”;
Robert Conquest, “Poem in 1944”
Air War: Churchill, Richard Hillary, et al, selected prose from
The Battle of Britain; John Pudney, “For Johnny,” “Air Gunner”;
Molly Repard, “Poem”; Herbert Corby, “Missing”; Mary E
Harrison, “My Hands”; Timothy Corsellis, “What I Never Saw”;
(Course Packet)
Week 3
Last of the Moderns
M 1/31 Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited (1945)
W 2/2
Brideshead Revisited
Samuel Beckett, “First Love”
Week 4
Permanent Cold War
M 2/7 George Orwell, 1984 (1949)
Orwell, “Letter to Francis A. Henson (extract),” “Letter to Julian
Symons,” “Letter to Vernon Richards,” CEJL, pp 502-504
(Course Packet)
W 2/9 Orwell, 1984
Film: The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed, 1949, UK, 104 min) NYU
Bobst AFisher VCA 285
Paper I due
Week 5
Black Britain Arrives
M 2/14 Samuel Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956)
W 2/16
Music: Selected Calypso songs by Lord Kitchener, et. al: CD1
Lyrics and Poetry: Louise Bennett, “Colonization in Reverse,”
“De Victory Parade”; Lord Kitchener, “London is the Place for
Me,” “My Landlady’s Too Rude”; James Berry, “Migrant in
London,” “Roomseeker in London”;
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Week 6
M 2/21
Prose: CLR James, “Africans and Afro-Caribbeans: A Personal
View”; Learie Constantine, “Colour Bar,” Claudia Jones, “The
Caribbean Community in Britain”; Paul Gilroy, from There Ain’t
No Black in the Union Jack
Sport: C.L.R. James, from Beyond a Boundary
Visual Culture: Stuart Hall, “Reconstruction Work: Images of
Black Settlement” – see course website for photographs (Course
Packet)
President’s Day – No Class
Anger and After
W 2/23 Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim (1954)
Selected skiffle and early rock’n’roll by Lonnie Donnegan, The
Quarrymen, et al: CD1
Week 7
M 2/28 John Osborne, Look Back in Anger (1956)
Alan Sillitoe, “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”
(1959)(Course Packet)
Imperial Bond
W 3/2 Ian Fleming, Dr. No (1958)
Film: Dr. No (dir. Terence Young, 1958, UK, 105 min)
Paper II Due
Week 8
Performing Femininities
M 3/7 Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)
W 3/9
Doris Lessing, from The Four Gated City; selected prose by
women of the New Left (Course Packet)
Selections from Petula Clark, Lulu, Dusty Springfield, Marianne
Faithful: CD2 Paper II Due
Spring Break
M 3/14 & W 3/16
Week 9
M 3/21
Spring Break –No Class
Revolting Youth
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson, eds., from Resistance Through
Rituals (1976)
Selections from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, et al:
CD2
Submit proposals for final projects starting now
Decolonization?
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W 3/23
Week 10
M 3/28
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, from Decolonizing the Mind;
Frantz Fanon, from Wretched of the Earth; selections from V.S.
Naipaul & Chinua Achebe.
The Troubles/ Dirty War in Northern Ireland
Benedict Kiely, Proxopera.
W 3/30
Poetry by Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, Tom
Paulin, Eavan Boland; Martin Dillon, from The Dirty War: Covert
Strategies and Tactics Used in Political Conflicts (1990)
.
Week 11
Oh Bondage Up Yours
M 4/4 Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine (1979)
W 4/6
Anarchy in the UK
Selections from Sex Pistols, The Clash, Joy
Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, et.al: CD 3
Week 12
Hybrids, Subalterns, and Thatcherism
M 4/11 Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988)
W 4/13
The Satanic Verses
Film: My Beautiful Laundrette (dir. Stephen Frears, 1985, UK, 97
min) NYU Bobst AFisher VCA 2335
Proposals for final paper or project due in section.
Week 13
M 4/18
Twenty Four Hour Party People
Martin Amis, Angela Carter, J.G. Ballard, selected
short prose.
Selections from techno and Britpop by Dreadzone, Blur, Oasis, et
al: CD4
Heritage England
W 4/20 Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day (1989)
Week 14
M 4/25
The Remains of the Day
Cool Britannia or the Untied Kingdom?
W 4/27 James Kelman, short stories from The Burn (1991);
WG Sebald, “Max Ferber,” from The Emigrants (1992, trans.
1996); and Zadie Smith, from White Teeth (2000);
F 4/29 Final paper or project due by 5:00 p.m. at 19
University Place, Fifth Floor.
Week 15
M 5/2 Conclusion // Final Exam: TBA
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