HIST31341
Bright Young Things and Down and Outs: Readdressing Inter-war Britain
20
Semester 1
Undergraduate
Level 3
Charlotte Wildman
Unit coordinator
1
FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Last part of a Bachelors '
European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0
<p>Britain’s inter-war period has been characterized as the “Long Weekend” and the “Devil’s Decades”, as contemporary writers and historians have both stressed stark divisions and contrasts in society. Britain in the aftermath of the First World War has been typified as a land of contrasts and images of pleasure-seeking Bright Young Things have been placed the poor and unemployed who walked from town to town in search of employment. However, more current research suggests the inter-war period was unique because of the possibilities and opportunities that emerged, especially through the advent of new forms of consumer culture and leisure. Matt Houlbrook suggests there was a ‘profound fascination with individuals who faked it – who masqueraded as something or someone they were not–or who crossed boundaries of class, gender, race, ethnicity, or age in other ways. Our module takes these issues as a starting point to reconsider the interwar period and move away from these older interpretations that focus on stark divisions and disunity in Great Britain as it sought to recover from the destabilising impact of the First World War. </p><p> </p>
<p>The module examines the impact of the First World War the influence of broader social and cultural change in interwar Britain, including the rise of mass consumer culture, new forms of leisure, and the challenge to existing gender roles. Taking these key issues as a starting point, it considers how far traditional categories of identity became more fluid or transgressive in interwar Britain, such as gender, class and race. Attention is paid to the specific context of the period, particularly the impact of the First World War on society. The module also focuses on the anxieties and tensions in British society, especially around race and sexuality, and we will consider how far there were attempts to aggressively reassert more traditional categories of identities and social roles (particularly gender) in response to the uncertainties of the post-First World War era. The module explores interwar Britain through a rich variety of primary source materials, including contemporary films; newspapers and magazines; novels; criminal cases; and contemporary social surveys. </p>
<ol role="list" start="1"> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-font="Cambria,Times New Roman,SimSun" data-leveltext="%1." data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559684":-1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,0],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%1.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="19" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{52}" paraid="1910192985">To explore the impact of the First World War on British society by focusing on identity and culture </p></li></ol><ol role="list" start="2"> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-font="Cambria,Times New Roman,SimSun" data-leveltext="%1." data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559684":-1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,0],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%1.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="19" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{65}" paraid="41988508">To examine the role of consumer culture in self-fashioning and offering individuals opportunities to perform new forms of selfhood. </p></li></ol><ol role="list" start="3"> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-font="Cambria,Times New Roman,SimSun" data-leveltext="%1." data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559684":-1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,0],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%1.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="19" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{72}" paraid="506088683">To consider how identities could be transcended, disrupted or obscured in interwar Britain. </p></li></ol><ol role="list" start="4"> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="4" data-font="Cambria,Times New Roman,SimSun" data-leveltext="%1." data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559684":-1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,0],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%1.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="19" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{83}" paraid="1473618789">To assess how far certain social identities were seen as problematic or dangerous and why anxieties about gender, race and sexuality were so acute in interwar society. </p></li></ol>
<ul role="list"> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="-" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559684":-2,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Calibri","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"-","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="20" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{136}" paraid="1186870199">Achieve a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of the key scholarship on interwar Britain, focusing on society and culture. </p></li> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="-" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559684":-2,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Calibri","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"-","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="20" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{144}" paraid="2050847679">Understand the varying interpretations of interwar Britain, especially regarding the impact of the First World War, and relating to the histories of gender, class and race. </p></li> <li aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="-" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559684":-2,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Calibri","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"-","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-listid="20" role="listitem"><p paraeid="{6cd52c42-7a68-44c8-ba6d-2a484ef4d8ed}{154}" paraid="475157399">Develop an awareness of the range pf primary evidence that can be used to explore the period and its key issues.</p></li></ul>
<ul> <li>Have a wide-ranging and imaginative understanding of inter-war English society and culture</li> <li>Possess a detailed knowledge of the implications of mass consumer culture, especially in terms for social identities and self-fashioning</li> <li>Understand why and how social identities could be obscured and boundaries of class, race and gender could be transcended or disrupted in inter-war societ</li></ul>
<ul> <li>Produce informed, well-written and well-researched pieces of academic prose.</li> <li>Work effectively and creatively with a range of primary source materials, especially literary and visual sources.</li> <li>Consider the historical specificity or uniqueness of inter-war Britain, especially in terms of the new consumer opportunities and the implications for self-fashioning.</li></ul><p> </p>
<ul> <li>Possess excellent communication and presentation skills by contributing to seminar tasks and group discussion.</li> <li>Synthesise historical data and offer informed, analytical insights based on research.</li> <li>Offer persuasive and convincing interpretations that are presented clearly to others</li></ul>
Other
- Thinking and presenting critically, with sophisticated analytical thinking
- Effective communication and team-working skills
- Working to deadlines and effective time management skill
<p paraeid="{ce1805bb-ba17-4f21-8557-bd93337b307c}{229}" paraid="849290511">Lectures – students will be provided with an overview lecture of each topic that introduces the key historiographical debates and analytical frameworks. The lecture will set up the independent study and reading that each students are expected to undertake in preparation for the following week’s seminar topic (usually three academic chapters/journal articles.) The lectures include images and often contemporary film clips or songs. </p><p paraeid="{ce1805bb-ba17-4f21-8557-bd93337b307c}{235}" paraid="509440343">Seminars – seminars encourage students to develop their skills in analytical and critical thinking and team working and presentational skills. Tasks include historiographical debate; group presentations; using primary sources; discussion and developing skills of persuasion. There are also dedicated exercises on essay writing skills; using feedback; and exam preparation. </p><p paraeid="{ce1805bb-ba17-4f21-8557-bd93337b307c}{249}" paraid="1778189666"> </p>
0
Other
100%
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:176px;" width="176"> <tbody> <tr height="49"> <td height="49" style="height:49px;width:88px;"> Essay plan</td> <td align="right" style="width:88px;"> 0</td> </tr> </tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:176px;" width="176"> <tbody> <tr height="49"> <td height="49" style="height:49px;width:88px;"> Essay</td> <td align="right" style="width:88px;"> 50%</td> </tr> </tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:176px;" width="176"> <tbody> <tr height="49"> <td height="49" style="height:49px;width:88px;"> Exam</td> <td align="right" style="width:88px;"> 50%</td> </tr> </tbody></table><p> </p>
<p>Essay Plan: Formative</p><p> </p>
Restricted to History programmes, History joint honours programmes (please check your programme structure for further details).<p>This module is only available to students on History-owned programmes; Euro Studies programmes; and History joint honours programmes owned by other subject areas.</p>
N
<p paraeid="{d6171324-a92f-4dc8-803c-9279c3587eae}{203}" paraid="266743106">Adrian Bingham, Gender, Modernity, and the Popular Press in Inter-War Britain, (Oxford, 2004). <br />Lucy Bland, Modern Women on Trial: Sexual Transgression in the Age of the Flapper (Manchester, 2013). </p><p paraeid="{d6171324-a92f-4dc8-803c-9279c3587eae}{221}" paraid="207813784">Carol Dyhouse, Glamour: Women, History, Feminism (2011). </p><p paraeid="{d6171324-a92f-4dc8-803c-9279c3587eae}{231}" paraid="1283526364">Matt Houlbrook, ‘“The Man with the Powder Puff” in Interwar London’, Historical Journal, 50, 1, 2007, 145 – 171. <br />Marek Kohn, Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground, (London, 1992) </p>
Seminars
33
0
167