World War I in British Literature

This project seminar seeks to explore various examples of how World War I has been represented and commemorated in British Literature in the immediate aftermath of the event and in the present. Among the texts to be discussed in class are war poems by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, extracts from Virginia Woolf’s novels, from Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End and Rupert Graves’s Goodbye to All That. Full texts to be read include Michael Morpurgo’s children’s novel War Horse, Rebecca West’s novella The Return of the Soldier (the first war novel written by a woman), and Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. A complete list of titles will be supplied before the beginning of the term. By joining up with the course on World War I in German Literature, taught by Dr. Mikota, several times in the course of the term (one before Christmas, to commemorate the Christmas ceasefire of 1914), we shall also discuss the different ways of dealing with World War I in British and German literature. Designed as a project seminar, our scholarly discussions in the course shall help us to prepare and launch, together with the students from the German department, an exhibition on commemorating World War I in British and German literature. Whereas one part of the course will therefore consist in coursework, considerable time will also be used for project-oriented group work preparing the material of the exhibition and organizing the event, and preparing event-related activities, such as lectures, guided tours or readings. An exact schedule will be proposed and developed in our first session (please note that a project seminar is usually a four-hour unit, so even if we will not have outright four-hour seminars throughout the entire term, we will definitely have some longer sessions now and then, therefore please do plan for a double slot if you intend to take this course). Students must buy their own copy and should have read by the third week of the term: Michael Morpurgo, War Horse Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (English edition please!) Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier Further texts and extracts will be announced in the first session. Please make sure you have read the three (short!) texts mentioned above by the beginning of the term to have time left for the remaining reading load for this class. Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft For students in MA LiWi 2011: In order to obtain the 9 LP for the project seminar, which completes Module 8, you must fulfil all of the following requirements: regular and active participation in class, including required reading; expert session on one of the texts that will be discussed in extracts only; active material contribution to one of the exhibition sections (e.g. preparing posters); active event-related participation in the exhibition For students in other study programmes: 2 LP: regular and active participation in class, including required reading; expert session on one of the texts that will be discussed in extracts only 5 LP/6 LP: regular and active participation in class, including required reading; expert session on one of the texts that will be discussed in extracts only; active material contribution to one of the exhibition sections (e.g. preparing posters) 7 LP: regular and active participation in class, including required reading; expert session on one of the texts that will be discussed in extracts only plus EITHER a) active material contribution to one of the exhibition sections (e.g. preparing posters) and 2000-word written assessment on one aspect of the exhibition OR b) written scholarly term paper of ca. 4000 words on one or more texts discussed in class Universität Siegen WiSe 2013/14 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Müller Anja