War in Film and Literature
IHP 203W/ PJCR 204/ PLCR 537
Professor Daniel Lieberfeld
Duquesne University
Fall 2012
Tues. & Thurs., 3:05-4:20, College Hall 524
Office: 525 College Hall, E-mail: lieberfeld@duq.edu, phone: 396-1851 (email is best)
Office hours: 2:00-2:55 Tues. & Thurs., Thurs. 5:00-6:00, and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Films and literature can help us understand core questions about war and peace: How can killing
be sanctioned as a moral act? How do normal men become able to kill enemy soldiers or even
non-combatants? How is becoming a warrior linked to gender identity? What psychological price
do soldiers pay for killing? What sort of obstacles do veterans face in re-integrating into civilian
life? To what extent can combat experience be conveyed through words and images? What myths
do societies create about war? How can literature and film perpetuate or contest such myths?
Why do people sacrifice in the name of an abstract entity such as “the nation” with which they
identify? How does another group become “the enemy”? What accounts for the attraction that
war holds for many people? How does the experience of those on the frontlines of combat differ
from that of high officers and politicians who declare and direct war?
Specific topics include nationalism and WWI (All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of
Glory); insurgency and counter-insurgency (Battle of Algiers, Love My Rifle More than You, The
Hurt Locker, Restrepo); war trauma and its aftermath (Maus, Survival in Auschwitz); nuclear
weapons and the Cold War (The Fog of War, Dr. Strangelove); the “lessons” of the Vietnam war
(Full Metal Jacket, Rambo, If I Die in a Combat Zone); American triumphalism and mythmaking
(Saving Private Ryan); and anti-war satire (Duck Soup, Three Kings).
The course also examines how particular wars, such as WWI, WWII, the Cold War,
Vietnam, the 1991 Gulf War, and the Iraq war have been understood in U.S. culture. Most of the
perspectives explored are American, but the course also includes works by several non-U.S. artists.
COURSE GOALS
 Investigate how film and literature about war depict issues central to human nature and
psychology, such as group identity and collective sacrifice, dehumanization of “outgroups,” adaptability under extreme stress, and the after-effects of trauma.
 Gain insight into the fascination with and attraction to war and soldiering in many
cultures.
 Analyze how films and literature reflect and also shape public attitudes toward war.
 Understand how representations of war in film and literature contribute to public
mythmaking and truth-telling about war.
 Consider the limits and potential of film and literature to convey war experience.
 Learn more about particular wars (e.g., WWI, WWII, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Iraq
War, Israel’s war in Lebanon) through literature and film.
 Develop skills in cultural analysis and written expression.
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BOOKS
Erich Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (originally published 1929)
Tim O'Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home (1973)
Kayla Williams, Love My Rifle More than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army (2006)
Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz [originally If This Is a Man] (originally published 1947)
Art Spiegelman, Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began (1986)
Ron Leshem, Beaufort (English ed., 2007).
FILMS
Paths of Glory (Kubrick, 1957)
Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick, 1987)
The Battle of Algiers (Pontecorvo, 1966) --in French and Arabic, with English subtitles
Restrepo (Junger & Heatherington, 2010)
The Hurt Locker (Bigelow, 2009)
Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964)
Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 1998)
Three Kings (Russell, 1999)
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Morris, 2003).
And excerpts from
The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Rambo: First Blood, Part II (Cosmatos, 1985)
Duck Soup (McCarey [with the Marx Brothers], 1935).
COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Students are expected to attend all classes and to complete reading and viewing assignments
before class. Since this is in part a literature course, there is at times a substantial amount of
reading. Plan on 5-8 hours per week beyond class time for readings/viewings and other course
work. A week’s assignment might consist of watching a film outside of class and over 100 pp. of
reading.
Except as noted, films will be viewed outside of class. There are three options for this:
1) You may obtain the film on DVD at the Gumberg reserve desk for viewing inside the library.
Copies of films will remain on reserve throughout the semester. (Please do not borrow the film in
the two hours right before class since the prof. may need to use it then.)
2) You may watch the film at a Sunday-evening screening in College Hall. This way you can see
it on a large screen with classmates (and any friends you wish to invite).
3) You may rent the film and watch it at home. (Battle of Algiers may be hard to locate.)
Watching these films in a format like YouTube or on a small computer screen does them a
disservice: Even if clips are available, the work loses much in quality and continuity.
COURSE GRADES (which use a +/- grading system) are mainly based on written
assignments. A central goal of the course is for students to craft essays containing focused and
purposeful analysis. More than mere summaries or reviews, the papers investigate what the
works’ authors have to say about war, how they convey their ideas, and how they respond to other
authors/filmmakers, contemporary and past.
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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
Due Sept. 18: a 4-page (1200 word) paper comparing the views of war in All Quiet on the Western
Front and Paths of Glory. Explain what aspects of war each work engages with, what
techniques the artists—Remarque and Kubrick—use to convey their viewpoints, and how
these techniques contribute to the works’ effectiveness. (15 percent of grade)
Two papers of about 5 pages (1500 words) each (20 percent each):
1. Due October 11: With reference to the assigned readings by Williams and O’Brien and to
the films Full Metal Jacket, The Battle of Algiers, The Hurt Locker, and Restrepo, explain
how artists have represented the stresses and dilemmas of counterinsurgency warfare. What
techniques do the novelists and filmmakers use to show the difficulties involved in this type of
fighting? What are the psychological and political risks and costs of this type of war,
compared with “conventional warfare,” and how do the authors and directors convey these
risks and costs to their audiences?
2. Due Nov. 6: In what ways was the Nazi project fundamentally an attempt to dehumanize
its victims, and how do Maus and Survival in Auschwitz convey the experience of
dehumanization and retaining one’s humanity in the most degrading situations? In what
different ways did the camp prisoners that Levy and Spiegelman describe attempt to retain
their humanity, and in what ways did they succeed or fail to do so? Given the brutality of
camp officials, the prisoners’ degradation, and the indifference of most civilians, what
qualities does each author believe still differentiate human beings from animals? Include
many examples to support your assertions.
A final exam (25 percent). Questions will cover the range of books and films we have discussed
during the semester. At least some will ask you to analyze how the works reinforce or
challenge socially propagated myths about war. Students will be asked for input regarding the
formulation of questions for the exam.
Graduate students drop one of the three short papers and instead write a 10-12 page (3000-3600
word) paper on a topic to be decided in consultation with the professor (proposal due Oct. 25,
outline due Nov. 13). Graduate students’ grades are based on 15% for class participation and
quizzes, 40% for the two short papers, 30% for the research paper, and 15% for the final.
FORMATTING FOR PAPERS
Please staple and number pages. Do not include a separate title page or bibliography page.
Footnotes referring to assigned readings are also unnecessary; instead, use a page number in
parentheses, for example: (Remarque, 123). Book and film titles should always appear in
italics; they are not underlined. Typed work should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins, in
at least 12-point type, and should not exceed word limits.
In your papers, be sure to introduce all quotations so as to make clear who is speaking and to
indicate why the quote is important (avoiding “quote bombs”). When using an indented or
block quote, do not add quotation marks. Please see the following page for more guidelines on
written work.
CLASS DISCUSSION AND ATTENDANCE, QUIZZES
All students are expected to participate constructively in class and contribute to an environment
that upholds mutual learning. Students who are not so comfortable talking in class should make
an effort to do so anyway. On the other hand, if you tend to talk easily in class, please monitor
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yourself to make sure that you are not unintentionally taking over the conversation and excluding
or detracting from others’ participation.
Please let me know in advance if you are planning to miss class. Students are responsible
for finding out from classmates about material covered or assignments given. Missing more than
two classes during the semester may affect your overall course grade.
Very brief, short-answer quiz questions on the reading/viewing assignments will be given
weekly. You have up to two "free passes" during the semester, to use if you either miss or elect
not to take a quiz. (Participation and quizzes count for 20 percent of overall course grades.)
There are no “extra-credit” assignments.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Using published material in your writing without quotation marks
or citing the source, as if it were your own, is plagiarism. So is closely paraphrasing, or slightly
rewording, an author’s published work without citing your source. Ideas and words of others that
are used in your papers must be accompanied by full citations giving the author, title, publication
information, and page number of the source of the idea or words. (As noted above, assigned
readings for the course should get only a page citation, not a complete footnote.)
In keeping with the university’s policy regarding academic integrity, plagiarism is “the use,
whether by summary, paraphrase, or direct quotation…of the work of another person without full
and clear acknowledgment” (Faculty Handbook, p. 81). See also the Student Handbook, p. 11
(http://www.duq.edu/frontpages/aboutdu/student_handbook.pdf).
CRITERIA USED IN GRADING PAPERS
1. Does the paper’s first paragraph clearly explain the central question that the paper will
answer and how the author has organized the paper? Or does the introduction consist of vague
generalities without clarifying the intent of the paper and its organization?
2. Does the paper go on, in detail and in depth, to actually address the central question?
3. Does the author provide evidence for the paper’s assertions by citing specific and appropriate
examples? Does the author explain how the examples illustrate the concepts in question?
4. Are central concepts, terms, and ideas in the paper clearly defined or left vague and general?
5. Does the author use active voice to make clear who is doing what to whom, or is the passive
voice used, leaving the question of agency vague? (Tip: Active verbs enliven your writing!)
6. Does the author introduce, identify, and explain the significance of quotations, or do quotes
just appear with no introduction or explanation? Quotes generally don’t speak for themselves;
they need you to speak for them.
7. Does each paragraph express one main idea or do paragraphs mix together several distinct
ideas? (Tip: If your paragraph takes up most of a page, it’s likely too long.)
8. Does the conclusion link back to the paper’s central question, as set out in the introduction?
9. Are there many spelling and grammar errores or has the paper been carefully proofd?
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Schedule of Classes, Readings/Screenings, and Assignments
Week 1: Tues, 8/28 & Thurs, 8/30: Introduction and divergent views of war.
READ: Poems: Rupert Brooke, “The Soldier” (1915) & Wilfred Owen, “Dulce Et
Decorum Est” (1918).
Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, first half, 1-136.
Week 2: Tues, 9/4 & Thurs, 9/6: WWI, cont.
READ: Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, second half, 137-295.
Film: Paths of Glory.
Week 3: Tues, 9/11 & Thurs, 9/13: The conscript and the community; gender and war.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/a-parting-glance-horst-faas/?hp
READ: O'Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone, first half, 1-114.
Wikipedia entry on the “My Lai Massacre.”
Also look at the photos at http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/a-parting-glance-horstfaas/
O'Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone, second half, 115-209.
Week 4: Tues, 9/18 & Thurs, 9/20: Training for killing; truth and fiction in war; lost
wars and the myth of the “stab in the back”; the Vietnam war in culture and politics.
Film: Full Metal Jacket.
* Paper #1 due 9/18. See syllabus, p. 3.
READ: O'Brien, "On the Rainy River" and "How to Tell a True War Story" in The Things
They Carried (1990).
Week 5: Tues, 9/25 & Thurs, 9/27: Counterinsurgency warfare; trauma in war; gender and war.
Film: Restrepo
READ: Junger, excerpt from War.
Williams, Love My Rifle (first half).
Week 6: Tues, 10/2 & Thurs, 10/4: Insurgency and counterinsurgency in the Arab world;
torture and its political consequences.
Film: The Battle of Algiers
READ: Williams, Love My Rifle (second half).
Jaffer and Siems, “Honoring Those Who Said ‘No’ to Torture,” New York Times, Op-Ed, April
27, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/opinion/28jaffer.html?ref=ciainterrogations
Week 7: Tues, 10/9 & Thurs, 10/11: The US war in Iraq.
Film: The Hurt Locker
Film: Rambo: First Blood, Part II (excerpts, in class).
* Paper #2 due 10/11.
Week 8: Tues, 10/16 & Thurs, 10/18: Genocide and expressing the inexpressible.
READ: Levi, Survival in Auschwitz (entire).
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Week 9: Tues, 10/23 & Thurs, 10/25: Survivor guilt; intergenerational transmission of trauma.
READ: Spiegelman, Maus II (entire). (Grad students: proposals for final paper due 10/25)
Week 10: Tues, 10/30 (no class on Thurs., All Saints Day): Satire; Nuclear weapons and
the Cold War
Film: Dr. Strangelove.
Week 11: Tues, 11/6; Thurs, 11/8: Satire; war as adventure: Gulf War I.
* Paper #3 due 11/6.
Film: Duck Soup (excerpt, in class).
Film: Three Kings.
Week 12: Tues, 11/13 & Thurs, 11/15: Mythmaking through film: WWII.
Film: Saving Private Ryan. The Sands of Iwo Jima (excerpt, in class).
READ: Leshem, Beaufort (first third) (Grad students: outlines for final paper due 11/13)
Week 13: Tues, 11/27 & Thurs, 11/29: Cross-cultural ideas of warrior psychology
READ: finish Leshem, Beaufort
Week 14: Tues, 12/4 & Thurs, 12/6: Ethics of warfare
Film: The Fog of War.
TBA
Week 15: Tues, 12/11
Wrap-up, review for final exam