- Department: History
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Venus Bivar
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: C
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
- See module specification for other years: 2021-22
It is impossible to overstate the impact of both World Wars on the experience of French men and women. Gender norms were disrupted as women gained independence and shell-shocked men struggled with their own masculinity. The structure of the French Empire was transformed thanks to the military service of colonial subjects and new demands for autonomy. The resurgence of a powerful Nazi Germany and the polarisation of political movements led to the collapse of the French state in 1940. And through it all, interwar Paris witnessed a cultural Renaissance that was led by such figures as Josephine Baker, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Jean Renoir.
In this course we will examine the history of France during these thirty years that span the two World Wars. Drawing on a wide base of source material, from novels and film to secondary historical analysis and political manifestos, we will discuss such topics as the racialisation of colonial subjects, changing gender dynamics, the relationship between battlefront and homefront, the economic crisis of the 1930s and the attendant rise of radical politics, French participation in the Holocaust, and the consequences of the two World Wars for the French empire.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
Teaching Programme:
Teaching will be in weekly 2-hour seminars taught over nine weeks, plus an overview and revision session in Week 2 of Summer Term. Each week students will do reading and preparation in order to be able to contribute to discussion.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
Race, War, and Empire
An Intimate History of the War
The New Woman and the Lost Man
Consuming the Colonies
Swinging Paris
The Rise of Fascism
France and the Holocaust
The Dark Years
Collaborators on Trial
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) Open Exam - Strange Defeat |
8 hours | 100 |
None
Formative work:
During the Spring Term students will prepare a presentation in pairs or small groups. Tutors will determine the formative work for the course: all groups will present on a primary source. Formative work will be completed in one or more sessions at the tutor’s discretion.
Summative assessment:
An open exam in the Common Assessment Period, comprising one essay question chosen from five options
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) Open Exam - Strange Defeat |
8 hours | 100 |
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their discussion groups and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their procedural work with their tutor (or module convenor) during student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Should you wish to do any preliminary reading, you could look at the following:
Mary Louise Roberts. Civilization without Sexes: Reconstructing Gender in Postwar France, 1917-1927. University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Tyler Stovall. Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.