Syllabus
Modern
European
(The Modernist
Revolution)
History
3311
Columbia
University
Spring
2008
Mon.
and Weds., 10:35-11:50
Hamilton
Hall 702
Samuel
Moyn
Professor
of History
Fayerweather 616
(212)
854-3009
AOL IM: samuelmoyn
Office
Hours: Thursday, 9-11 a.m.
Teaching Assistants
James
Chappel
Alexander
Kaye
European
history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries often focuses on the tragic
and violent decline of the continent into the catastrophes of fascism, war, and
genocide.
In
this same Europe, however, there also occurred a vibrant modernist revolution
among intellectuals that still presents a challenge to conventional assumptions
about human agency, interpersonal norms, and political organization.
This
class will survey European intellectual life from ca. 1880-1940, interrelating
individual works of philosophical and social theory as well as literature and
the arts against the backdrop of Europe's great crisis. Lectures, reading and
discussion are an experiment in what happens when works of different genres are
considered together on the grounds that they were produced in the same
circumstances and incorporated the same impulses as one another.
The
course also asks the question: What can – and should -- be saved from
this revolution?
The
course involves an electronic discussion board via https://courseworks.columbia.edu.
Two
5-7 pp. papers, due February 29 and April 11 (30% each)
One
2 pp. report on an extracurricular event, due April 26
Final
examination (30%)
Discussion
in section (10%)
If
you do not sign up for section (which is an option but likely a bad idea, since
the texts in this class have to be interpreted and you will likely need help
doing so), your second paper and final exam will count 5% more.
Note:
you may count this course towards a major or concentration in Comparative
Literature and Society, but only if you read one or more of the non-English
texts in its original language – see the instructor.
The
books listed below are available for purchase and on reserve. The items with an
asterisk are reproduced as PDFs on the Courseworks website. All books are on order at Book Culture
(a.k.a. Labyrinth Books) on 112th Street or via any online
bookseller.
Sigmund
Freud, The Freud Reader, ed. Peter
Gay (Norton), 0393314030
Erich
Fromm, Escape From Freedom (Henry
Holt), 0805031499
AndrŽ
Gide, The Immoralist (Vintage),
0679741917
J.-K.
Huysmans, Against the Grain (Dover),
0486221903
Thomas
Mann, Death in Venice etc.
(Continuum), 0826409717
Luigi
Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of
an Author and Other Plays (Penguin), 014018922X
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Penguin),
0140439218
Oscar
Wilde, Salome (Branden),
0828314675
Austrian Cultural Forum, relevant exhibits or
films
Claude
Debussy, ÒLa Mer,Ó among other things, Julliard
Orchestra, Feburary 18, 8 p.m.
Modern
Architecture Retrospective Museum of Modern Art
Richard Strauss, ÒEin Heldenleben,Ó at New York Philharmonic in March
Igor Stravinsky, ÒThe Firebird,Ó at New York
Philharmonic in April
You
can also just visit the Museum of Modern Art anytime and report on the
permanent collection.
Schedule of
Lectures and Readings:
Note: You should do as much of the reading as possible before the lecture for which it is
assigned. When there is no reading assigned for a certain lecture, it is in
order to leave you time to complete the previous reading and begin the next
reading.
1. Jan. 23: Introduction:
Intellectual History
2. Jan. 28: Bourgeoisie,
Liberalism and Positivism
Reading:
*Emile Zola, ÒThe Experimental NovelÓ
3. Jan. 30: From
Naturalism to Decadence in French Literature
Reading:
J.-K. Huysmans, Against
Nature, pp. 1-25, 39-57, 65-82, 94-104, 130-35, 178-79, 182-85, 193-98,
199-206, xxxiii-xlix; you may want to read optional further chapters if you are
especially interested in classical literature (Chap. 3), modern French
literature (Chaps. 12 and 14), painting (Chap. 5, latter half), botany (Chap.
8), music (Chap. 15) or perfume (Chap. 10).
4. Feb. 4: Dangerous
(Female) Sexuality
Reading:
Oscar Wilde, Salome
5: Feb. 6: Primitivism
and Personal Liberation
Reading:
AndrŽ Gide, The Immoralist; *Paul
Gauguin, Noa Noa and
related text in reader
6. Feb. 11: Art, Form and
Passion
Reading:
Thomas Mann, ÒDeath in VeniceÓ
7. Feb. 13: The Deep Self
in Philosophy and Art
Reading:
*Henri Bergson, Introduction to
Metaphysics
8. Feb. 18: The Invention
of Psychoanalysis: Dreams and Conflict
Reading:
Sigmund Freud, A Freud Reader, 142-72, 239-93, 301-6, 363-87, 436-43, 481-513
9. Feb. 20: Formal Revolution in the Arts
Reading:
*Arnold Schšnberg, ÒThe Relation to the TextÓ; *Wassily Kandinsky, On
the Spiritual in Art
Feb.
25: No Class
10. Feb. 27: Politics in
a New Key: Liberalism, Elites, and Masses
Feb.
29: First Paper Due
11.
March 3: Neue Galerie
Guided Tour*
This tour
takes place at the Neue Galerie,
1048 5th Ave., at 10:30 a.m. and lasts
approximately ninety minutes. Including travel time, it will take somewhat
longer than the class period and is not required if you would prefer a day off.
If you would like to do your required report on the Neue
Galerie but do not make this visit, simply visit on
your own. ***If you want to come March 3, you must sign up with the instructor
by February 13 and pay a $10 admission fee for your spot***. There are limited
spots for this visit, which is being subvented by the
history department, and students will be accommodated on a first-come,
first-served basis.
12. March 5: Marxism
between Science and Myth
Reading:
*Georges Sorel, Reflections on Violence
13. March 10: World War
I in European Intellectual History
Reading:
*Weimar Documents: Ernst JŸnger, ÒFire,Ó ÒOn Danger,Ó
and ÒThe WorkerÓ; Carl Schmitt, The
Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy and The
Concept of the Political; Hans Freyer,
ÒRevolution from the Right,Ó and Hermann Hesse, ÒThe
Longing of the Time for a WorldviewÓ
14. March 12: Mass
Psychology and the Leadership Principle
Reading:
*Gustave Le Bon, The
Crowd, Thomas Mann, ÒMario and the MagicianÓ
SPRING
BREAK
15. March 24: The
Modernist Contribution to Italian Fascism
Reading:
*Fascism Documents
16. March 26: FreudÕs
Later Thought: Compulsion and Death
Reading:
Sigmund Freud, *ÒThoughts for Times on War and DeathÓ and Freud Reader, 595-626, 722-72
17. March 31: The
Interwar Avant-Garde
18. April 2: The Fate of
British Modernism (Lecture by James Chappel)
Reading:
*British Modernism Documents; T.S. Eliot, ÒThe Waste LandÓ
19. April 7:
Masterpieces of the 1920s: Proust and Mann
Reading:
*Marcel Proust, Time Regained;
re-read Bergson, Introduction, on
time
20. April 9: The
Multiple (and Fragmentary) Self
Reading:
Luigi Pirandello, So It IsÉ and Six CharactersÉ
April
11: Second Paper Due
21. April 14: The
Modernist Origins of Existentialism
Reading:
*Martin Heidegger, Being and Time
22. April 16: Modernism
and Religion (Lecture by Alexander Kaye)
Reading:
TBD
23. April 21: The
Religion of Individualism
Reading:
*Emile Durkheim, ÒIndividualism and the IntellectualsÓ and related text in
reader
24. April 23: The
Resignation of Disenchantment
Reading:
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic,
*ÒPolitics as a VocationÓ
April
24: Report Due
25: April 28: The
Analysis of Language and the Twelve-Tone Row
Reading:
*Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus,
and *Anton Webern, The Path to the New
Music
26. April 30: The
Frankfurt School: Modernism as Utopia
Reading:
Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom,
pages to be announced
27. May 5: Repairing
Liberalism to Save Art?
Reading:
*J.M. Keynes, ÒThe End of Laissez-FaireÓ and ÒEconomic Possibilities for Our
GrandchildrenÓ
---
Reading
Week: Review Session with Instructors
Reading:
Interpretations Packet