SE2597: Military Masculinities in the Long Nineteenth Century
| School | English Literature |
| Department Code | ENCAP |
| Module Code | SE2597 |
| External Subject Code | 100319 |
| Number of Credits | 20 |
| Level | L6 |
| Language of Delivery | English |
| Module Leader | Professor Holly Furneaux |
| Semester | Autumn Semester |
| Academic Year | 2018/9 |
Outline Description of Module
This module overturns stereotypes of Victorian masculinity and militarism. Once seen as a warmongering age characterised by stiff-upper lipped men unable to express their feelings, the course charts an alternative cultural history of soldiering and emotion through the long-nineteenth century. From the eighteenth-century man of feeling to the First World War, we look at a range of published writing and exhibited art and at work produced by soldiers and their families.
On completion of the module a student should be able to
Critically discuss masculinity and militarism in the long-nineteenth century, with an awareness of dominant and submerged cultural histories; demonstrate an understanding of a range of representations of war and manliness and an appreciation of how these are related; be alert to strategies of representation that make war more or less acceptable.
How the module will be delivered
The module will be taught by one one-hour lecture and a two-hour seminar each week.
Skills that will be practised and developed
- Close reading skills across a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, letters, art and craft
- Critical enquiry, especially relating to the fields of gender, history of emotion, and war studies
- Employability skills include: honing the ability to articulate arguments verbally and in writing; improving productive listening to and encouraging of others, developing ways to respectfully voice disagreement. These will be developed through structured group work in seminars, and opportunities for group presentations.
How the module will be assessed
Written Assessment 100%
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:
In accordance with University regulations, students are allowed two attempts at retrieval of any failed essay, for a maximum module mark of 40%. Resit assessments are held over the summer.
Assessment Breakdown
| Type | % | Title | Duration(hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written Assessment | 100 | Essay | N/A |
Syllabus content
- Course introduction. Studying war, masculinity and culture. Key text: Catriona Kennedy and Matthew McCormack, ’New Histories of Soldiering’ in Soldiering in Britain and Ireland, 1750-1850: Men of Arms, ed. by Kennedy and McCormack (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2013), pp. 1-14.
- The Military Man of Feeling. Key text: Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771)
- Dash and valour? Key text: William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1847-8)
- Soldiering and Sentimentality. Key texts: Charles Dickens, ‘7 Poor Travellers’ (1854), and extracts from Bleak House (1853)
- Soldiers’ letters, souvenirs, art of the Crimean War, 1854-56
- Reading week
- Chivalry and the public schools. Key text: Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857)
- Soldiers’ letters, souvenirs, art of the Anglo Boer War, 1899-1902
- Pluck and derring-do. Key text: Robert Baden Powell, Scouting for Boys (1908)
- Soldier adoption narratives. Key texts: Charles Dickens, ‘Somebody’s Luggage’ (1862), John Strange Winter, Bootles’ Baby (1885)
- WW1 fragments, 1914-1918