History 2800: Film and History
Trent University
Instructor: Dr. Allison Abra
Office: LEC S103
Office hours: Tues, 11:30-1:00
Office telephone: 705-748-1011 ext 7109
Email: allisonabra@trentu.ca
Summer 2011
Time/location: T/Th, 1-4, BL 103
History Department: LEC 101.3
Admin Asst: Patricia Heffernan-Frost
Course Description
The recent popular and critical success of The King’s Speech has served to confirm the longstanding and enduring interest among filmmakers and their audiences in cinematic representations of British history. As one scholar has noted, “heritage cinema and television” have become one of Britain’s most influential and pervasive cultural and commercial exports, shaping not only how the world views Britain, but how Britons have constructed their own national identity.
1 For decades, films produced on both sides of the Atlantic have provided
Britons with a vision of themselves. Cinema sought to shore up pride in the British empire as it went into decline; to promote national unity and social leveling during the so-called “people’s war;” and to grapple with the complexities of the multicultural and multiracial society that emerged in Britain in the postwar world.
This course will introduce students to the relationship between film and history through a specific consideration of films that visualize the history of modern Britain. A primary goal of the class will be to get students to think about films not just as representations of the past, but also as cultural artifacts and historical documents. The selection of films to be watched includes more recent films which capture much earlier historical events; films which provide a visual representation of another primary text such as a novel or play; and films which portray and thus serve as cultural artifacts for the eras within which they were produced. Arranged chronologically based on content, this combination of films both about history and from history should raise a number of overlapping and distinctive issues, forming the basis of a rich and ongoing class discussion.
1 Andrew Higson, “Heritage Cinema and Television,” in British Cultural Studies, edited by David Morley and Kevin
Robins, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002): 249-260.
1

Framing Questions
 How high is the quality of the historical representation(s) in the films under review?
 What is the vision of British national identity constructed and expressed through film?
How has it been shaped by external historical events during specific films’ production, and which social groups does it include or exclude?

How have historical films been used to construct national heroes, and what symbolic role did these heroes serve at given historical moments?

How do historians read films as historical documents? How do films serve as evidence for past events or modes of thinking?

How can historians reconstruct how films were produced and received in earlier periods of history?

Does Britain have a national cinema? How, where, and by whom has it been constructed?

What is the pedagogical value of films for teachers of history?
Course Readings
There are no required texts for the course. Seminar readings will be available via WebCT and other online sources (see the schedule for specific information).
Writing Assignments
Reception assignment
This assignment is designed to get you thinking about how historians tangle with the tricky issue of “reception” in studying the history of film. You must locate various sources, ranging from reviews, social surveys, or manuscript sources which will enable you to analyze the reception of a film of your choice. You will then discuss the film’s reception, in terms of its
“popularity,” but also in terms of the meanings and ideas it helped circulate within society, in a
3-4 page paper. Further information will be provided in class.
Group research presentation
A primary goal of the course is to prompt a consideration of films not just as representations of the past, but also as historical documents. With that in mind, this assignment asks you, working in small groups, to choose an historical event or issue from British history since the era of film began in the early twentieth century, such as the Second World War or era of decolonization, and to produce a research presentation that relies primarily on films from the period as the basis of its analysis. Further information will be provided in class.
2

Film review journal
The major writing assignment for the course will be a journal in which you will compile 1-2 page reviews of ten of the full-length films we are studying in the class. This is a chance for you to play film critic and personal reactions to the films are welcome. However, the reviews should also engage with the questions that frame the course, including the quality of its historical representation, the context of its production and consumption, and the cultural meanings conveyed and created. Note: The journal will be completed and submitted in two separate parts containing five reviews each. The first part is due June 16 th , and the second part is due
July 28 th . Further information will be provided in class.
Final reflection paper
This 3-4 page paper will ask you to draw upon course films, lectures, readings, and discussion in order to answer a question provided by the instructor, and will serve as a take-home final exam for the course. Further information will be provided in class.
Grade Distribution
Reception assignment: 10%
Research presentation: 20%
Film review journal: 15 x 2 = 30%
Final reflection paper: 15%
Participation: 25%
Late Papers Policy
Writing assignments submitted late will be penalized at a rate of 3% per day, and unless other arrangements are made with me, assignments will not be accepted at all once two weeks have elapsed from the due date.
Class Participation
Regular attendance and active participation in class meetings are very important to your success in this course. You are expected to attend all classes, and to arrive prepared to engage in thoughtful discussion of the readings and films. I understand that for some students speaking up in class can be difficult; if this is the case for you, let me know early in the semester and we can devise alternative ways of fulfilling your participation requirement. It should also be remembered that participation in class is best measured in terms of quality rather than quantity; simply speaking up a lot without adding anything substantive to the discussion will not ensure a high participation grade. Finally, class participation involves helping to create an atmosphere conducive to quality learning and discussion. This includes showing respect for
3

other members of the class (even when your views on the material might differ), arriving on time and staying until the end of the class, and turning off all cell phones and other electronic devices that might disrupt the class. Failure to meet these conditions will reduce your grade.
Contacting the Instructor
If you have any questions or concerns related to any aspect of the course, please feel free to drop by my office hours or make an appointment. With respect to email communication, please ensure that you allow a reasonable response time (i.e. 24 hours during the week, 48 hours on weekends) for any messages sent.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself – unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit
Trent’s Academic Integrity website to learn more – www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity .
Access to Instruction
It is Trent University’s intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed in this course, the student should contact the Disability Services Office (BL Suite 109,
748-1281, disabilityservices@trentu.ca
) as soon as possible. Complete text can be found under
Access to Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
Schedule of Topics and Films
May 10: Introduction
May 12: A brief history of film and “national cinema” in Britain
Reading

John Hill, “British Cinema as National Cinema,” in Theorising National Cinema, Edited by
Valentina Vitali and Paul Willemen, (BFI Publishing, 2006): 100-113.

Andrew Higson, “The Limiting Imagination of National Cinema,” in Cinema and Nation,
Edited by Mette Hjort and Scott Mackenzie, (Routledge, 2000): 57-68. [Available as an Eresource through the Library website]
Constructing national heroes
May 17: Amazing Grace (2006)
4

Reading

Amy Sargent, “Do we need another hero? Ecco Homo and Nelson,” in British Historical
Cinema, edited by Claire Monk and Amy Sargent, (Routledge, 2002): 15-30.
May 19: That Hamilton Woman (1940)
Reading

Sue Harper, “Official Histories in the War Years,” in Picturing the Past: The Rise and Fall
of the British Costume Drama, (Palgrave, 1994): 77-94
Heritage films and the cult of Jane Austen
May 24: Persuasion (1996)
Reading
 Claire Monk, “The British heritage-film debate revisited,” in British Historical Cinema, edited by Claire Monk and Amy Sargent, (Routledge, 2002): 176-198.

Antoinette Burton, “When was Britain? Nostalgia for the Nation at the End of the
‘American Century’,” Journal of Modern History 75:2 (June 2003): 359-374. [Available via
Jstor]
May 26: Mansfield Park (1999)
Reading
 Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield, “The Mouse that Roared: Patricia Rozema’s
Mansfield Park,” in Jane Austen in Hollywood, edited by Linda Troost and Sayre
Greenfield, (University of Kentucky Press, 2001): 188-204.
The many cinematic faces of Victorian Britain – Part 1
May 31: NO CLASS

Students should use this time to convene initial meetings with their research project groups, which will be organized the week before.
June 2: From Hell (2001)
Reading

Explore Casebook: Jack the Ripper at casebook.org
*** Reception assignment due
The many cinematic faces of Victorian Britain – Part 2
June 7: Film clips: Gaslight (1944); Great Expectations (1946); Oliver! (1968); North and South
(2006)
Reading

Jeffrey Richards, “Dickens – Our Contemporary,” in Films and British National Identity,
(Manchester University Press, 1997): 326-350.
5

June 9: The Four Feathers (1939)
Reading
 Jeffrey Richards, “Boy’s Own Empire: Feature Films and Imperialism in the 1930s,” in
Imperialism and Popular Culture, Edited by John Mackenzie, (Manchester University
Press, 1986): 140-164.

Wendy Webster, “‘There’ll Always Be and England:’ Representations of Colonial Wars and Immigration, 1948-1968,” Journal of British Studies 40:4 (October 2001): 557-584.
Confronting the Great War
June 14: Regeneration (1997)
Reading
 Alan Burton, “Death or Glory? The Great War in British Film,” in British Historical
Cinema, edited by Claire Monk and Amy Sargent, (Routledge, 2002): 31-46.

War poetry of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and others.
June 16: Film clips: Blackadder Goes Forth (1989); Michael Collins (1996)
Reading
 Andrew Kelly, Cinema and the Great War, (Routledge, 1997): Selections. [Available as an
E-resource through the Library website]
***Part I of film review journal due.
Fears and fun between the wars
June 21: Things to Come (1936)

Mark Glancy, “Hitchcock and Film Nationalism,” in The New Film History, edited by
James Chapman, Mark Glancy, and Sue Harper, (Palgrave, 1994): 150-200.
 Priya Jaikumar, “An Act of Transition: Empire and the Making of a National British Film
Industry, 1927, Screen 43:2 (Summer 2002): 119-138. [Available via Jstor]
June 23: Bright Young Things (2003)
Reading
 Terrence Rattigan, After the Dance, (1939): Selections.
Representing the People’s War
June 28: Film clips: In Which We Serve (1942); Millions Like Us (1943); Diary for Timothy
(1945)
Reading

James Chapman, “British Cinema and the ‘People’s War’,” in ‘Millions Like Us?’ British
Culture in the Second World War, (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1999): 33-61.
June 30: Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Reading
6


H. Mark Glancy, When Hollywood Loved Britain: the Hollywood “British” film, 1939-1945,
(Manchester, 1999): Chps. 3 & 4.
Remembering the People’s War
July 5: Hope and Glory (1987)
Reading
 Geoff Eley, “Finding the People’s War: Film, British Collective Memory, and World War
II,” American Historical Review, Vol. 106, No. 3, (June 2001): 818-838. [Available via
Jstor]
July 7: Film clips: Dad’s Army (1968-1977); Doctor Who (2005- ); Goodnight Sweetheart (1993-
1999)
Reading

Jeffrey Richards, “Dad’s Army and the Politics of Nostalgia,” in Films and British National
Identity, (Manchester University Press, 1997): 351-366.
July 12: Group research presentations
July 14: Group research presentations
Cinema and the search for identity in postwar Britain
July 19: Stone of Destiny (2008)
Reading
 Robert Dillon, “Post-war television and history: from sound to vision,” in History on
British Television, (Manchester University Press, 2010): 33-54.
July 21: Dr. No (1962)
Reading
 Simon Winder, The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey into the Disturbing
World of James Bond, (Farrar, Strous, and Giroux, 2007): Chp. 4.

Jeffrey Richards, “The Swinging Sixties and After,” in Films and British National Identity,
(Manchester University Press, 1997): 147-172.
Britain and British cinema today
July 26: This is England (2003)
Reading
 James Leggott, “Representing Contemporary Britain,” in Short Cuts: Contemporary
British Cinema From Heritage to Horror, (Wallflower Press, 2008): 83-110.
July 28: Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Reading
7


Tariq Modood, “British Asian Identities: Something Old, Something Borrowed,
Something New,” in British Cultural Studies, edited by David Morley and Kevin Robins,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002): 67-78.
***Part II of film review journal due.
*** Due date for final reflection paper TBA.
8