131-239 The Century of War: France 1914-2005

Usually 12.5 points of first year history or first year European studies.

This subject studies the development of France from the experience of World War I to the present. It focusses on the dynamic between social trauma and cultural change, exploring the ways in which social and cultural change followed or resulted from world wars, depression, Resistance and Liberation, colonial wars, the May '68 revolt, the Mitterrand Revolution, the 1995 strike wave. It asks students to come to terms with the concept of cultural production. It introduces students to the ways in which social trauma is experienced by members of a society and leads to new forms of culture. Students will encounter the music of the 1920s, the proto-fascist literature of the 1930s, the moral dilemmas posed by the Resistance, and the pain of civil war as in 1944 and 1968. Film screenings will be optional.

• demonstrate research skills through competent use of the library and other information sources;

• show critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion, and by determining the strength of an argument;

• demonstrate understanding of social, ethical and cultural context through the contextualisation of judgements, developing a critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and possibilities and by constructing an argument.

An essay proposition and bibliography 10% (due early in the semester), a 2000 word research essay 40% (due at the end of the semester), either a 1500 word reflective essay 40% (due during the examination period) or a 3-hour unseen paper sat in the examination period. Class participation 10%.

• C Sowerwine, France since 1870: Culture, Politics and Society. Palgrave 2001.