2008/09 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST2190 British Imperial Culture, 1914 to the present day

20 creditsClass Size: 42

Module manager: Dr Christopher Prior
Email: C.Prior@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2008/09

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module examines the relationship between British cultural output and the political, economic and social history of Britain and the British Empire from the start of the First World War to the present day. It focuses on the ways in which cultural products mapped out, and continue to map out, changing responses to notions of empire, as well as British and English national identity, race and class. This module will focus in on responses to particular themes, such as the role of the British Empire in the World Wars and the Cold War, and the rise of postcolonial immigration into Britain. This module will use a variety of sources, such as films, novels, art, music, advertisements and theatre.

Objectives

The course will encourage students to develop an understanding of the links between the cultural output of the British metropole concerning the British Empire, and the events of the World Wars, decolonization and the postcolonial period. Students will analyse a wide variety of different types of cultural works in order to achieve this goal, and their works will be, in the main, works that were popular at the time of their publication. Students will also analyse historiographical trends pertaining to the ways in which British culture discussed matters of race, empire and shifts in geopolitical pre-eminence.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to analyse a variety of texts within their historical context.

Syllabus

Students will examine a wide range of authors, including George Orwell, E. M. Forster Arnold Bennett, Agatha Christie, John Buchan, Joseph Conrad, H G Wells, Jean Rhys, Nevil Shute, Paul Scott, and C. S. Forester. They will also examine popular film and television of the time, such as film versions of The African Queen, Jewel in the Crown, The Four Feathers, A Passage to India, Zulu, as well as other films such as Zulu and Khartoum, and a range of poetry, art, advertising, music and theatre.
The historiographical aspect of the course will focus upon the diverging interpretations of the Manchester Studies Imperialism / John Mackenzie and the Bernard Porter schools as to the impact of culture upon the British metropole, but will also examine interpretations of imperial culture by writers such as Andrew Thompson, Gerwin Strobl, Sujit Bose, Michael Gorra, and Patrick Swinden. Particular attention will be placed on the divergences between Marxist, postcolonialist, and 'modern imperial' viewpoints.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	6	1.00	6.00
Private study hours			183.00
Total Contact hours			17.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students progress will be monitored formally through the assessed essay, and informally through bi-weekly responses in each seminar.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1 x 2,000 word assessed essay to be submitted by 12 noon on Friday of week 7 of the semester the module is taught	30.00
Presentation	1 x 15 minute oral presentation assessed in bi-weekly seminars through an equivalent written exercise	10.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		40.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	2 hr 00 mins	60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		60.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 29/04/2009

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD