SoSe 19: S-Culture-Gender-Media II: Imagining Europe in Contemporary Britain
Sabine Schülting
Comments
The Brexit referendum has revealed Britain’s deep ambivalence not only towards the European Union, but also towards (continental) Europe. In the semester starting in the week after Brexit day, we will have a closer look at the ways in which Europe has been imagined in British film and literature of the last three decades. The novels, short stories, and films from the 1980s to the present day show Britons living in and/or travelling across continental Europe, but also Europeans coming to Britain. The texts tell stories of cultural conflict and encounter, along the lines of national, racial, linguistic, gender, and class differences. Our analyses will focus on the fantasies and the anxieties projected upon Europe, both of which are often closely related to the protagonists’ personal identities and histories. We will discuss how the texts and films represent European geography and history, and how they bridge or widen the gap between Britain and continental Europe.
Films and Texts will include A Room with a View (dir. James Ivory, 1985); Julian Barnes, Cross Channel (1996); Bernadine Evaristo, Soul Tourists (2005); It’s a Free World (dir. Ken Loach, 2007); David Szalay, All That Man Is (2016). Students should purchase Bernadine Evaristo’s Soul Tourists (Penguin, 2005) and David Szalay’s All That Man Is (Vintage 2016). Both novels are available as inexpensive paperback editions. Please note that Kindle editions are NOT recommended. Further texts will be made available on Blackboard.
Assessment will be on the basis of regular attendance, active participation in classroom activities (including e.g. response papers or short presentations), and an essay of about 4000 words (to be submitted after the end of the semester).
close14 Class schedule
Regular appointments