English and drama

Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain

Module code: Q3307
Level 5
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar, Lecture
Assessment modes: Coursework

How do literature and other cultural products (the visual arts, film, and architecture, for instance) respond to the immense transformations of the post-war period? How did writers and artists reflect on the violence of the Second World War and the ongoing threat of nuclear war and totalitarian domination?

Indicative topics include:

• the establishment of the welfare state (including the postwar university)
• responses to decolonisation and immigration
• ideas about motherhood and masculinity, class and Communism
• youth subcultures and the influence of America. 

We will examine literature’s engagement with politics, philosophy, psychoanalysis and popular culture, and will also explore the complex legacies of modernism.

While this is a historical module, we will reflect on the debates of the post-war period as they influence our contemporary political and cultural discussions.

Module learning outcomes

• Reflect on the interrelationships between the literature of the period and other cultural forms.
• Set the texts and/or other cultural forms discussed within a historical context.
• Relate the discussions of post-war writing in Britain to present-day debates and issues.