Trent University: Department of English Literature
ENGL 3411H: 20th Century British Literature: History, Politics, Culture.
Online Summer Course, 2014 (S62)
Dr. Lewis MacLeod
Wallis Hall 123
Telephone: 748-1011, Ext. 6022
Email: lewismacleod@trentu.ca
Departmental Administrative Assistant: Patricia Heffernan (pheffernan@trentu.ca)
At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the British Empire’s position as the world’s dominant power
remained secure, yet anxieties and doubts about the legitimacy of that power and the influence of Empire on
the British Citizenry were routinely voiced. As the nation completed its rapid transition into a “modern”
culture (while “the colonies” lagged behind), a radical shift in the notion of British Identity became apparent.
Some found the heart of Britishness (often constructed in narrowly English terms) in industry and
technological advancement; others saw it in the very pastoral tradition that “modernity” displaced. Some
writers identified with the grand projects of Empire, while others (particularly those outside the confines of
“Englishness”) turned away from it. The two world wars also worked to exacerbate the divide between selfconfident, often classist, English nationalists, and those who sought to locate their identities outside the
parameters of that nation. After WWII, the collapse of “traditional” notions of cultural consensus is
particularly pronounced and is reflected in the literature of the postwar period, literature that is characterized
both by a nostalgia for a more stable past and by a celebration of new modes of identity-formation and new
approaches to literary production and presentation. This course seeks to examine both the echoes of Empire
and “Englishness” in Twentieth Century British literature, and to trace the emergence of a distinctly postEmpire sensibility in contemporary British culture.
Required Texts:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Twentieth Century and
Beyond
Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust
Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Martin Amis, Money
Note One: The editions I’ll (generally) be quoting from are available through Trent’s
Bookstore. If you want to use other editions, that’s fine.
Note Two: In the lectures, I’ll sometimes make references to other thinkers/theorists, and
I’ll sometimes quote them directly. If I think it’s important for you to know the direct
source and the page number, I’ll include that, but generally I’ll be treating this like a
conversation and just let things ride. If you want to know the direct source (for your
paper or because you want to read more), contact me and I’ll send you the information.
Evaluation:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Two passage analyses
Term Paper
Final Exam
Discussion Groups
25 (2 X 12.5)
30
30
15
Due Dates:
Passage Analysis One (750-1000 words): July 4
Passage Analysis Two (750-1000 words): July 11
Term Paper (2000-2,500 words): July 31
Exam: (Online)
Exam period is Aug 5-6.
(Full details for each assignment will be posted on Blackboard 9)
Readings and Topics By Week
Week One, Lecture One (1 total)
Brief Intro to Empire, Race and Sex
“Ulysses” (on Blackboard), Alfred Tennyson
“The White Man’s Burden” (on Blackboard), Rudyard Kipling
“The Camel’s Hump” (on Blackboard), Rudyard Kipling
“The Second Coming,” WB Yeats
Week One, Lecture Two (2 total))
“Decency” Sexuality and Finance
Mrs Warren’s Profession, George Bernard Shaw
Week Two, Lecture One (3 total)
WWI Poems
“Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries,”AE Houseman,
“They,” “Glory of Women,” Siegfried Sassoon
“The Soldier,” Rupert Brooke
“Dulce et Decorum Est,” “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” Wilfred Owen
Week Two, Lecture Two (4 total)
Gender, Class and Space
A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
“The Garden Party,” Katherine Mansfield
Week Three, Lecture One (5 total)
Class, Tradition and Space (The English Gentleman)
A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh
Week Three, Lecture Two (6 total)
Fascism and WWII
“Spain, 1937,” “Musee des Beaux Arts,” “September 1, 1939,” WH Auden
“Boys’Weeklies(308),”“from Homage to Catalonia (533),” “Anti-Semitism in Britain
(610),”
---George Orwell
“Frank Richard responds to George Orwell,” Frank Richard
“Speech to the English,” Ezra Pound
All excerpts in anthology (pages 590-592), Winston Churchill
Week Four, Lecture One (7 total)
Class, Tradition and Space (The “Criminal” Classes)
“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,” Alan Sillitoe
“Let Them Call it Jazz,” Jean Rhys
“Stealing,” Carol Ann Duffy
Week Four, Lecture Two (8 total)
Language and Empire (Part One)
“Politics and The English Language,”George Orwell
“from Decolonizing the Mind,” Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
Week Five, Lecture One (9 total)
Language and Empire (Part Two)
“A Far Cry From Africa,” “Ruins of a Great House,” Derek Walcott
“Slave Song,””Coolie Mother” (on Blackboard)” “Coolie Son” (on Blackboard)
---David Dabydeen
“Them & [uz],” “t’Ark,” Tony Harrison
Week Five, Lecture Two (10 total)
Structure/Counter Structure, Duty and Tradition
Remains of the Day , Kazuo Ishiguro
Week Six, Lecture One (11 total)
Sexuality, Class and Time
“The Basement Room,”Graham Greene
“Annus Mirabilis,” “Talking in Bed,” “High Windows” “Church Going,”
---Philip Larkin
Week Six, Lecture Two (12 total)
Thatcherism, Reaganism, Yob Culture
Money, Martin Amis
Late Submission Policy
Extensions of deadlines are possible ONLY by prior arrangement (that is, before the due date)
and only with sufficient reason. The burden of your workload will not normally be regarded as
sufficient reason, since you are expected to schedule your assignments and other obligations.
Essays submitted late without permission will receive a half grade deduction (e.g., B reduced to
B-) for every day the essay is late. The weekend counts as one day. Late essays will receive
substantially reduced corrections and comments.
Assistance:
If you need help with your work or clarification about what I say in class/on your assignments,
please contact me. I really want you to succeed. It makes me happy when you do! I don’t
respond to emails in the last 48 hours before an essay/assignment/test in an effort to make you
think about and deal with the material in a way that will help you reach your potential. Think of
it as encouragement, not punishment.
Discussion Groups: You are expected to engage with each other (and me) in these discussion
groups. Evaluation will be based on quality and quantity of your contributions (You can’t get by
only two genius comments for the whole course; you can’t get by on fifty entries, saying, “Yeah,
what s/he said… I feel exactly the same way.”) If you’re not sure how to enter a discussion, you
can email me about it, or, (and this is preferred) you can try to think your way through the nature
of your uncertainty and use that as a thoughtful (not a shrugging) point of entry.
Discussion Netiquette (Etiquette while on the Internet)
• Discussion Threads: The idea of the discussion list is to have an ongoing chain or "thread" of
discussions with the members of your class. The discussion board works best when you
respond to one another's comments and ideas. Please check the discussion board regularly
for new postings and make thoughtful responses.• Lurking: Don't "lurk"-- which means reading
messages without posting any comments or
replies. Remember that you are expected to participate in the discussions.
• Capital letters: Typing in all UPPER CASE LETTERS means that you are shouting in your
message. Don't post messages all in upper case.
• Audience: Remember that depending on the type of Discussion Board, your posting may be
visible to the entire class. Be sensitive not to offend anyone deliberately, but be sure to
express your own opinions as well.
• Flaming: Intellectual disagreement is expected, but give your classmates the same respect
you would in the classroom. Avoid "flaming" or publicly attacking someone for his/herpoint of
view.
• Language: Please use good taste in your language. Also try not to use slang or web
abbreviations (e.g. LOL). Since these are classroom discussion boards, they should take on a
more formal tone than public forums on the Net.
University Policies
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 enviro
nment. If a student has a disability or health consideration and feels that he or she may need
accommodations to succeed in this course, the student should contact the Disability Services
Office (BH Suite 132, 748-1281,
disabilityservices@trentu.ca) as soon as possible. Complete text can be found under Access to
Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
Trent in Oshawa contact the Disability Services Office, Kristina Murray
kristinamurray@trentu.ca
(Room 111, 905-435-5102 ext 5024).
Learning Outcomes:
In this course, students will:
1) develop a greater understanding of the politics and culture of Modern Britain, especially
as regards empire, race and sexuality
2) become acquainted with several of the most important writers of that period
3) improve their ability to articulate their response to works of literature
4) learn how to pay attention to the complexities of literary texts, their structures,
reiterations, tones, implied values, points of view, inter-relations
5) develop an awareness of contexts (historical, cultural etc.) that will enhance close reading
6) improve their ability to articulate, in writing, their response to works of literature