SCHOOL OF ENGLISH Module EN4426 Civil Wars on Page and Screen

[Essay Box 4 module]
EN4426
2015-2016
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
Module EN4426
Civil Wars on Page and Screen
Copies of the
School of English Handbook for Students and
Essay Style Sheet and Guidelines
are available electronically at
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/undergraduates/
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
Module Title:
Honours Module:EN4426
Number of Credits: 30
Semester 2
Civil Wars on Page and Screen
Class Hours:
Seminars: Mondays 2 pm - 4 pm
Film Screenings: Fridays 2pm – 4.30 pm
Venue:
The Lawson Room, Kennedy Hall
Module Organiser: Dr A Raychaudhuri (ar220)
This module introduces students to a wide range of literature and cinema that
arise out of civil wars and conflicts in various parts of the world throughout the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On conclusion of this module, students will be expected to acquire and be
able to demonstrate a broad knowledge of the themes, concerns and topics of
the literature and cinema of civil wars, especially those that are covered in the
course.
They will be expected to be able to discuss literary and cinematic
representations in their historical and socio-political contexts. They will be
able to discuss issues such as gendered, racial and national identities,
representation of violence, civil wars in relation to colonialism, postcolonialism
and nation-building, and the place of cultural representation in relation to all
this.
CONTENT AND SYLLABUS
In this module we shall be looking at literary and cinematic representations of
different instances of civil war and partition – the Irish Civil War (1922-1923),
the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the conflict around the Indian/Pakistani
partition (1947) and the Bangladesh War of Liberation (1971), the conflict
between Israel and Palestine (1948-present), the Nigerian Civil War/Biafran
War (1967-1970) and the Somali Civil War (1988-present). In the process, we
will focus on issues such as gender, race, class, family and nationhood,
politics of memory and commemoration, and the aesthetics of representing
violence. We will examine the politics of definition of civil wars and think about
civil wars as a consequence of colonialism and post-colonial nation-building.
Questions we will be addressing include:
What are the specific issues that are associated with civil wars?
Is there a particular kind of literature that comes out of civil wars?
What role does literature play in our perceptions of civil wars?
How might it help or hinder post-civil war reconciliation?
What are the differences between literature of different genres, and between
literature and cinema, when it comes to representing civil wars?
SET TEXTS
Unless otherwise stated, it is expected that you will own the books in the
following list:
Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock
Alfred Hitchcock, Juno and the Paycock *
Julia O’Faoilain, No Country for Young Men
Ken Loach, The Wind that Shakes the Barley *
Ken Loach, Land and Freedom *
W.H. Auden, “Spain” (Photocopies will be provided)
Miguel Hernández, “Al soldado internacional caído en España” [“To the
International Soldier Fallen in Spain”] (Photocopies will be provided)
Miguel Hernández, “Todo está lleno del ti” [“Everything is full of you”]
(Photocopies will be provided)
Miguel Hernández, “Sentado sobre los muertos” [“Sitting Upon the Dead”]
(Photocopies will be provided)
George Green, “Dressing Station” (Photocopies will be provided)
Antonio Machado, “El crimen fue en Granada” [“The Crime was in Granada”]
(Photocopies will be provided)
John Cornford, “To Margot Heinemann” (Photocopies will be provided)
Margot Heinemann, “Grieve in a New Way for New Losses” (Photocopies will
be provided)
Dulce Chacón, La voz dormida [The Sleeping Voice]
Victor Erice, El Espíritu de la colmena [The Spirit of the Beehive] *
Deepa Mehta, Earth *
Bapsi Sidhwa, Ice-Candy-Man **
M.S. Sathyu, Garm Hava [Scorching Winds] *
Tahmima Anam, A Golden Age
Ari Folman, Vals Im Bashir [Waltz with Bashir] *
Mahmoud Darwish, Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, Khamas Kamīrāt Muḥaṭṭamah [5 Broken
Cameras] *
Jo Sacco, Palestine
Biyi Bandele, Half of a Yellow Sun *
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun
Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down *
Nadifa Mohamed, The Orchard of Lost Souls
* These are films which will be screened during our Friday screening sessions
** Also Published as Cracking India
COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1
Enrolment and Introduction: Please read the following chapters. Photocopies
will be provided:
“Introduction” to The Logic of Violence in Civil War by Stathis N. Kalyvas
(Cambridge: CUP, 2006), pp. 1-15
“Civil Wars and Sexual Territories” by Margaret R. Higonnet in Cooper, H.M.
et al. eds, Arms and the Woman: War, Gender, and Literary Representation
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989), pp. 80-96
Weeks 2-3: Irish Civil War
These classes will focus on a selection of literary, dramatic and cinematic
representations of the Irish Civil War. We will be examining questions that will
remain important for the entirety of the course including the relationship
between colonialism and civil war, the role played by gender and the family,
religion, and the ethics and aesthetics of the representation of violence.
Weeks 4-5: Spanish Civil War
Using a combination of prose, poetry and cinema, we will examine how civil
wars can become “causes” to be embraced or rejected, and how the
essentially political nature of these ideas affect their cultural representation.
We will be thinking about the effects of civil war on established literary forms
such as elegies. We will also start to look at the ways in which civil wars can
become internationalised, and how that affects the way wars are conducted,
perceived and remembered.
Weeks 6-7: India/Pakistan partition, and the liberation of Bangladesh
What is at stake when a war is or is not defined as a “civil war”? What is the
distinction between civil conflict in society and civil war? What are the effects
of such conflict on the world of children? How might conflict survive in and
through society, only to be reignited at a later date? These are some of the
issues we will be examining through a selection of literary and cinematic
narratives.
Weeks 8-9: Israel/Palestine
What are the differences in the ways in which political conflict is represented
in fictional and non-fictional forms? How does changing technology allow
different ways of telling stories of civil war? What are the effects of telling the
story using different, intertwined genres? We will revisit the politics of naming
and definitions, as well as issues of gender, religion, family and childhood that
we have considered in the light of this particular conflict and its
representations?
Week 10: Nigerian Civil War/Biafran War
What are some of the differences in the way the same story can be told
through different media? When one particular text wins critical acclaim and
literary awards, how does that change the ways in which a conflict is
perceived and remembered? What is at stake when an international audience,
unfamiliar with the intricacies of a particular war, is introduced to it through
one particular and isolated literary representation?
Week 11: Somali Civil War
What are the differences in the way civil wars are depicted through texts of
“high” and “low” culture? How are the literary/cinematic tropes differently
deployed in the telling of the story? What does this do to cultural perceptions
of the war?
SECONDARY READING
Achebe, Chinua, There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra.
Aguilar, Paloma, Memory and Amnesia: The Role of the Spanish Civil War in
the Transition to Democracy.
Bhalla, Alok, Partition Dialogues: Memories of a Lost Home.
Baxter, Peter, Biafra: The Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970.
Butalia, Urvashi, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India.
Brothers, Caroline War and Photography: A Cultural History.
Buchanan, Tom The Impact of the Spanish Civil War on Britain: War, Loss
and Memory.
Bunk, B. D., Ghosts of Passion: Martyrdom, Gender and the Origins of the
Spanish Civil War.
Cleary, Joe, Literature, Partition and the Nation-State: Culture and Conflict in
Ireland, Israel and Palestine.
Coogan, Tim Pat and George Morrison, The Irish Civil War.
Cooper, H.M. et al. eds, Arms and the Woman: War, Gender, and Literary
Representation.
Daiya, Kavita Violent Belongings: Partition, Gender and Postcolonial
Nationalism in India.
Didur, Jill, Unsettling Partition: Literature, Gender, Memory.
Fergusson, James, The World’s Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw
State of Somalia
Gardner Judith and Judy El Bushra, Somalia: The Untold Story
Gould, Michael, The Biafran War: The Struggle for Modern Nigeria.
Higonnet, M. R. et al. Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars.
Jain, Jasbir, Reading Partition/Living Partition.
Stathis N. Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War.
Kissane, Bill, The politics of the Irish Civil War.
Khan, Yasmin, The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan.
Lebeau, Vicky, Childhood and Cinema.
Menon, Ritu and Kamla Bhasin, Borders and Boundaries: Women in India's
Partition.
Newman, Edward and Karl DeRouen Jr., Routledge Handbook of Civil Wars
Pappé, Ilan and Jamil Hilal. Across the wall: narratives of Israeli-Palestinian
history.
Pappe, Ilan The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
Preston, Paul, A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War.
Purdon, Edward, The Irish civil war 1922-23.
Sarkar, Bhaskar, Mourning the Nation: Indian Cinema in the Wake of
Partition.
Shlaim, Avi, Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations
Spears, Ian S., Civil War in African States: The Search for Security
Tan, Tai Yong and Gyanesh Kudaisya, The Aftermath of Partition in South
Asia
Zamindar, Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali The Long Partition and the Making of
South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories
ASSESSMENT
Essays: 1 x 2000 words (20%); 1 x 3000 words (30%)
Examination: 1 x 2 hour exam (50%)
ESSAY SUBMISSION
Submission dates: Essay 1: 12pm, Monday, 22 February 2016 (Week 5)
Essay 2: 12pm, Monday, 4 April 2016 (Week 9)
All essays are due by 12 noon on the date specified and must be delivered to
Essay Box 4 in the foyer of Kennedy Hall as well as submitted
electronically via Turnitin (on which see below). Late work will be penalised at
the rate of 1 mark per 8-hour period, or part thereof, until the mark reaches 0.
Essays submitted after 2.30pm on Friday 22 April will be treated as missing
work and may lead to the forfeit of credit in the module.
Over- and (if relevant) under-length essays will be penalised in accordance
with the guidelines set out in the School’s Handbook for Undergraduate
Students.
A full explanation of the School’s penalties for late or over- and under-length
work can be found in its Handbook for Undergraduate Students, available at:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/undergraduates/
Essays will be anonymized before being marked. Students should fill out the
anonymization cover-sheets provided by module co-ordinators before delivery
to the module Essay Box. Do NOT fold back and seal the anonymization
strip: this will be done by the School Office before the essays are passed on
to co-ordinators/tutors for marking.
Markers may add individualized
comments once essays have been de-anonymized. Essays must be word
processed or typed and should conform to the School of English Essay Style
Sheet and Guidelines (also available on the web at http://www,standrews.ac.uk/english/undergraduates). Late essays must be delivered to the
School Office. Students must not submit essays via staff pigeonholes, the
postal service, the internal mail, or under office doors, by fax or email. Please
take note of the statements in the School of English Handbook for Students of
the School’s policies on plagiarism, late submission and appeals.
ACADEMIC FRAUD
The printed essay cover-sheet carries a statement, as follows: ‘In submitting
this work you confirm that you have read and understood the University’s
regulations regarding assessment and academic fraud.’ Students should NOT
sign this statement, but SHOULD write the DATE OF SUBMISSION of the
essay beneath it.
TURNITIN
All essays must also be submitted to MMS for checking by the Turnitin
plagiarism prevention service. Failure to submit will be subject to the same
penalties outlined above. Failure to submit your essay to MMS will result in a
mark of 1 (one) for your essay.
To access MMS, go to the university homepage, then click on “Current
Students” and then “MMS”. For instructions on submitting work to MMS,
please see the MMS guides (linked from the MMS front page, under the
“Login” button). Please note that once you have submitted your coursework to
MMS, you should be emailed an MMS receipt within around 15 minutes
(KEEP THIS to prove you uploaded the file); you will then receive a separate
Turnitin receipt once MMS has submitted your coursework to Turnitin (this
typically will take around 30 minutes to an hour).
For Turnitin submission, students must upload their work in a common
file format (e.g. .doc, .docx, .pdf). Some file formats are likely to be
unacceptable for Turnitin and will be rejected (e.g. .odt, .wps, .rtf, and
zip files). It is your responsibility to make sure that you are able to
successfully submit your essay in its printed and electronic form by the
essay deadline.
HOW WE MARK
The University's policy on Classification, Grades, and Marks and the Common
Reporting Scale can be found at:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/teaching-and-learning/policies/gradesdefinition.pdf
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/teaching/examinations/scale/
Note, however, this is a general statement covering a variety of different
practices across different Schools and Departments. What follows is intended
to clarify practice in the School of English.
The School of English uses both a marking scale (on which essays,
examination answers and projects which form part of the work of a module
are marked) and a reporting scale (on which module results are reported as
grades). Thus, marks are awarded to individual pieces of work; grades are
awarded to modules.
The marking scale runs from 0-20 and only integers are used. The reporting
scale is the twenty-point scale taken to one decimal place. Despite the
obvious relationship between these scales they operate independently of
each other, in the sense that there is no absolutely fixed translation between
them.
Accordingly students must recognize that, in conformity with general
university regulations, marks and grades and the translations between marks
and grades are provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board that
meets at the end of each semester. Marks released prior to that board
meeting are for guidance only.
Students may find that a mark for an individual piece of work has been
adjusted after it has been released but before it has been reported to the
Board and may also find that the translation of marks into grades has been
adjusted across an entire module. In all such cases, which will not be
frequent, an explanation of what has been done will be given.
3000-level and 4000-level modules in English are rated at 30 credits. Credit is
awarded in its entirety when a student passes a module and withheld in its
entirety when a student fails a module.
MARK DESCRIPTORS
What does a mark mean which has been awarded to a particular piece of
work? What criteria did the marker use to decide on the mark?
20, 19, 18, 17 Outstanding
• shows intelligent awareness of possible implications of the question;
thorough, detailed knowledge of the primary text(s) and/or subject
material
• clear, logical structure; forceful argument focused on the question at all
times; key points of argument always backed up by reference to
specific texts/evidence or supported by apt quotation; lucid style
• original and imaginative approach to the question; sophisticated critical
response to primary text(s) and/or analysis of evidence; may offer
informed challenge to received critical opinion, traditional or otherwise
• excellent command of English
16, 15, 14 Very Good
• good understanding of the question; thorough, detailed knowledge of
the primary text(s) and/or other subject material
• coherent structure; discussion clearly focused on the question; key
points of argument always backed up by reference to specific
texts/evidence or supported by apt quotation; lucid style
•
•
intelligent approach to the question; independent critical response to
primary text(s) and/or analysis of evidence; may offer informed
challenge to received critical opinion, traditional or otherwise
very good command of English
13, 12, 11 Satisfactory
• understands the question; sound knowledge of primary text(s) and/or
other subject material
• direction of argument mostly clear, but discussion not always sharply
focused on the question; key points supported by reference to specific
texts/evidence; writing lacks cogency
• capable but unimaginative approach to the question; heavily dependent
on secondary sources; makes intelligent use of lecture notes, but
reluctant to challenge received critical opinion
• reasonably good command of English
10, 9, 8, 7 Pass
• does not see all the implications of the question; limited knowledge of
primary text(s) and/or other subject material
• direction of argument not always clear; discussion not focused on the
question; makes dogmatic statements unsupported by reference to
specific texts/evidence; rambling style
• mechanical approach to the question; relies heavily on uncritical
reproduction of lecture notes
• the candidate’s command of the English language is on the limit
between satisfactory and unsatisfactory
6, 5, 4 Fail
• misses some important implications of the question; limited knowledge
of primary text(s) and/or other subject material
• essay largely descriptive; clumsy style and poor presentation;
unsupported dogmatic statements
• argument and presentation unduly derivative
• naïve approach to the question
• unsatisfactory command of English
3, 2, 1, 0 Fail (without right of resit)
• near complete failure to address the question or near total failure to
understand it; poor knowledge of primary text(s) and/or other subject
material
• essays lacks an argument; incoherent expression and poor
presentation; unsupported dogmatic statements
• argument and presentation substantially derivative
• highly unsatisfactory command of English
• often awarded for substantially late essays, or for essays not submitted
via Turnitin, or for seriously incomplete examination scripts
0 [X]
• indicates unsubmitted work or a penalty linked to Academic Misconduct
Marking is not an exact science. However, most educators tend to rely on
similar criteria. Usually these criteria include language skills and fluency,
understanding of both question and material, argument and originality. Marks
will be awarded according to these criteria, as described above. Their
importance and weighting in the final mark depends on the type of exercise
and on the individual tutor.
GRADE DESCRIPTORS
What does a grade mean which has been awarded to a particular module?
What implications does the module grade have for a student’s progression or
degree classification? Strictly speaking, only degrees are classified. However,
sustained achievement of grades at a certain level across several modules
will produce certain degree outcomes, and it is therefore permissible to think
of module grades in terms of the degree to which they might lead; other
grades have immediate consequences in terms of failing the module.
EN3000 and EN4000 modules:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
16.5-20 First Class Equivalent
13.5-16.4 Upper Second Class Equivalent
10.5-13.4 Lower Second Class Equivalent
7.5-10.4 Third Class Equivalent
7.0 + Pass
4.0-6.9 Fail (with right of resit)
0-3.9 Fail (without right of resit)
Further notes on assessment can be found in the School of English Handbook
for Undergraduate Students, available at:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/undergraduates/
FEEDBACK
Feedback takes the form of detailed annotation and commentary written on
students’ continually assessed work and on the essay coversheet (this is why
we do not mark electronically). At least one piece of your continually assessed
work will also feature feedback from the module moderator, a second member
of staff who reviews the marking of the module coordinator. Students who
would then like clarification of any of this commentary, who wish to discuss it
face to face, or who would like further to explore the issues it raises, have the
opportunity to do so during their tutor’s consultation hours.
Students will also be invited to complete an electronic questionnaire at the
end of the semester.
ADVICE AND SUPPORT
For advice and support on any issue, including academic, financial,
international, personal or health matters, or if you are unsure of who to go to
for help, please contact the Advice and Support Centre, North Street, 01334
462020, [email protected].
ACADEMIC ALERT
Academic Alerts are a way of helping students who are having trouble coping
with their studies; such as missing deadlines for handing in work, or missing
compulsory tutorials. The aim of the Alert system is to help students by
flagging up problems before they seriously affect students’ grades. Academic
Alerts will be issued by email from the Director of Teaching, Director of
Postgraduate Studies, Module Coordinator or School administrator and will
tell students what is wrong and what they are required to do (e.g. attend
classes in future). The Alerts will also tell students what support the
University can offer. If students do not take the action required they will get
another Alert, and eventually will automatically get a grade of zero and will
fail that module. The system is designed to help and support students in
order to remedy any problems or issues before these lead to failing a
module. Alerts will never appear on a student’s permanent transcript. For
more information on Academic Alerts and details on how the categories
work, see:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/teaching-andlearning/policies/academic_alerts.pdf
Students enrolled on this module must attend 100% of the timetabled
lectures, seminars and tutorials, unless absence is unavoidable for medical or
for serious personal reasons, such as bereavement. They must also complete
and submit 100% of the required work by the set deadlines. Students who
breach these regulations may be sent Academic Alerts. It is vital that students
experiencing difficulties that compromise attendance requirements keep
module co-ordinators and/or tutors informed.
Academic alerts will be issued in the case of absence from compulsory
classes. If you receive academic alerts for three or more insufficiently justified
or explained absences from class, absence from class in three consecutive
weeks, absence from more than five classes for any reason, or failure to
submit all coursework by the final deadline, you may not receive credit for the
module.
It is students’ responsibility to read the University policy on attendance and
submission of work, and to familiarise themselves with the Academic Alert
system and its implications for module credits and academic progress.
CAREERS
Your English degree will provide a sound basis for your career but there are
other skills and experiences you will need in order to make the most of the
opportunities on offer when you graduate. The Careers Centre offers one-toone advice on career planning, finding work experience and making CVs and
applications. There are workshops to help you develop the skills employers
want and seminars to learn more about particular careers. The website,
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/careers, has a database of St Andrews alumni so you
can build useful contacts with graduates who are already in the workplace.
There is also a vacancy search facility, advertising the latest jobs and
internships and you can choose to have relevant vacancies emailed directly to
you. The School of English also has its own careers wiki at: http://www.standrews.ac.uk/careers/wiki/School_of_English.
DISABLED STUDENTS
The School’s Disabilities Officer is Ms Lesley Glaister, Room 12, Castle
House, ext 2418, email lgg.
The Disabilities Officer is contactable via email and will be available should
you wish to discuss any arrangements that you need to be put in place, or to
request English lecture materials in a special format. There are accessible
rooms within the School in which you can meet the Disabilities Officer, so
please specify if you require this.
In English your overall grade for individual modules is typically made up of
marks for two pieces of written coursework and marks for an examination,
usually comprising two answers to questions from a selection available on the
exam paper The weighting is usually 50% for coursework and 50% for
examination work, although this can vary. We do not permit candidates who
choose to write their exams on a computer to use Spellcheck.
We recognize that under exam conditions, any candidate may make
superficial mistakes in spelling, expression etc. When marking exams,
however, we are primarily looking for, and seeking to reward, good ideas,
effective organization, ability to think quickly and ability to remember and to
adapt prepared material to the demands of the set questions.
RETURN OF EXAMINATION SCRIPTS
All information relating to University examinations may be found at:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/academic
All students will be offered an opportunity to review their exam scripts in an
advertised lunchtime session scheduled early in the semester following
exams.
Students who wish to discuss an examination script should inform the Director
of Teaching, who will advise them of the conditions and conventions that
govern such discussions.
A copy of your examination script can be obtained on payment of a £10
charge.
AR 2016
Timetable
Semester 2
2015-16
Week
commencing
EN4426 Civil Wars on Page and Screen
Venue: The Lawson Room, Kennedy Hall
Monday
2-4pm
Friday
2-4.30pm
Enrolment and Introduction
to Civil Wars (Readings
supplied)
Juno and the Paycock
(1924)
Screening: Juno and
the Paycock (1930)
3. 8 Feb
Screening: The Wind
that Shakes the
Barley (2006)
No Country for Young Men Screening: Land and
(1980)
Freedom (1995)
4. 15 Feb
Selected Poems
(Readings supplied)
Screening: The Spirit
of the Beehive (1973)
The Sleeping Voice (2002)
Screening: Earth
(1998)
Ice-Candy-Man (1988)
Screening: Scorching
Winds (1973)
A Golden Age (2007)
Screening: Waltz with
Bashir (2008)
1. 25 Jan
2. 1 Feb
5. 22 Feb
6. 29 Feb
7. 7 March
SPRING VACATION
14/3/16
21/3/16
Memory for Forgetfulness
(1986)
Screening: 5 Broken
Cameras (2011)
Palestine (2001)
Screening: Half of a
Yellow Sun (2013)
10. 11 April
Half of a Yellow Sun
(2006)
Screening: Black
Hawk Down (2002)
11. 18 April
The Orchard of Lost Souls
(2013)
8. 28 March
9. 4 April
12. 25 April
REVISION WEEK