Postgraduate Course: Intellectuals and Politics in Twentieth Century Europe (ELCC11013)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | European Languages and Cultures - Common Courses |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | A number of key topics will be studied corresponding to important debates or 'moments' in the history of intellectuals' relationship to politics in the course of the twentieth century. The first area covered falls broadly in the category of reaction to and sympathy with communism and fascism up until the end of the 1930s. André Gide's stance (as articulated notably in his Back from the USSR) will serve as a starting point prior to focusing in particular on the writings of Paul Nizan whose attitude to Soviet communism and socialist realist literature offer a valuable perspective on the problems of left commitment for writers in the Stalinist era. This theme will then be investigated in more depth via examination of the intellectual trajectory of Georg Lukács whose contrasting positions, evolving as they do from his pre-Stalinist and anti-dialectical materialist Theory of the Novel and History and Class Consciousness through to his Zhdanovist-tending literary theory of the 1930s, illustrate clearly the complex relationship between aesthetic and philosophical theorising and ideological imperatives. This same question will also be investigated with respect to fascism through consideration of the thought and life of Martin Heidegger. The second area to be covered by the course will focus on the French context and, more specifically, on the disagreements between intellectuals in the 1950s and 1960s concerning the value of adopting politically committed positions. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| This course aims to provide students with an overview of a number of important twentieth-century currents in European thinking with respect to politics and culture. It will broaden their knowledge of key debates surrounding communism, socialism, and fascism. By the end of the course, they will also have acquired a broader and deeper understanding of a range of theoretical debates notably in the fields of philosophy, and aesthetics. |
Assessment Information
| One 4,000 word essay to be submitted as specified in the programme handbook |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | IPTCE |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Samuel Coombes
Tel:
Email: Sam.Coombes@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Natalie Carthy
Tel: (0131 6)50 6536
Email: Natalie.Carthy@ed.ac.uk |
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