History600:London:AModernImperialMetropolis
Fall2012
Wednesday11:00‐1:00
5245MosseHumanitiesBuilding
ProfessorDanielUssishkin
5112MosseHumanitiesBuilding
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(608)2631839
OfficeHours:Tuesday,2:00‐4:00
ThissubjectofthisseminarisLondon,asalivedandimaginedplace:foralongtime
thelargestcityinEurope;thefirstmodernmetropolis;thecenterofathriving
commercialculture;aglobalcapitaloffinance;theheartofmodernimperialBritain.
TheEnglishwriter,JamesBoswell,notoriouslythoughtthat“whenamanistiredof
London,heistiredoflife.”TheFrenchphilosopherVoltairewasoneofthemany
whoenvieditasanexemplarysiteofmoderncivilsociety.Londonwasseenasa
sourceofpleasure,butquiteoften,asrepresenting,andharboring,allthethreats
andmaladiesofmodernity.WhereassomesawLondonasaffordingopportunities
forsociability,pleasure,anonymity,oranescapefromtheconstraintsofhome,
otherssawvice,degeneration,decay,andcollapseofthesocialfabric.Whilesome
werealluredbyitsincreasinglycosmopolitanormulti‐culturalnature,otherssawit
asathreattowhattheyregardedasthefundamentalaspectsofBritishness.For
betterorworse,forthepasttwocenturies,modernmeanturban,andurbanmeant
London.
Thefirsthalfoftheseminarwillbedevotedreadingsanddiscussionsthatwilldirect
ustograpplingwiththequestionsandproblemsthatanimatehistoricalresearchon
London.Thesecondpartoftheseminarwillbedevotedtowritinganoriginal20‐
25pp.originalresearchpaperbasedonprimarysources(numeroussuchsources
areavailable).Courseassignmentsincludeshortwrittenresponses,research
exercises(relatedtoyourfinalpaper),oralpresentations,peercriticismand
collegiality.
Coursemechanics:
*Eachmeetingtwostudentswillpresentthesourcesandlaunchthediscussion.
Studentsshouldworktogetherontoproduceacriticalpresentationandsuggest
questionsfordiscussion(atleast3).
*Allwrittenassignmentsshouldbesubmittedbothelectronically(through
Learn@UW)andinahardcopy(12‐pt.font,doublespace,1.25sidemargins).
*Unlessotherwisementioned,allhardcopiesaredueinclass.
*Thefirstdraftofyouresearchpaperisdue11/16noon.Finaldraftdue12/12
1:00pm.
*Forthefinalpresentations,eachstudentwillpresenther/hisownwork(10
minutes)aswellasprepareconstructivecommentaryonapeer’spaper(5minutes).
*Furtherparticularsonpaperformatwillbedescribedinclass.
*Studentsarerequiredtoattendallmeetings.
*Thereareacoupleofweeksduringwhichtheseminarisnotscheduledtomeet.
However,youshouldkeepregularclasstimesfreeofotherobligations,aschanges
tothesyllabusarepossible.
Coursepacket:AcoursepacketisavailableattheCopyCenter,1650Humanities.A
fewitems(markedbya‘–‘below)areavailableonlinethroughthelibrary.
Gradestructure:
Activeparticipation:15%
WrittenAssignments:15%
Presentationsandpeercriticism:15%
FinalPaper(20‐25pp.):55%
Schedule
I.
09/05 Introduction
II.
09/12 Culture,Commerce,andPolityinthe18th‐Century
Read:
*JohnBrewer,ThePleasuresoftheImagination:EnglishCultureintheEighteenth‐
Century(Chicago,1997),chapter2,“ThePleasuresoftheImagination,”pp.56‐122.
*MilesOgborn,SpacesofModernity:London’sGeographies,1680‐1780(NewYork
andLondon:GuilfordPress,1998),chapter4,“ThePleasureGarden,”pp.116‐157.
*RoyPorter,“CapitalArt:Hogarth’sLondon,”inTheDumbShow:ImageandSociety
intheWorksofWilliamHogarth,editedbyFredericOgee(Oxford,1997,pp.47‐64
*AddisononthePleasuresoftheImagination,Spectator(1712)
*SteeleontheBarbaricStateof“PublickDiversions,”Tatler(1709).
Note:Hogarth’spaintings,discussedinPorter’sarticle,areeasilyfoundonline.
Anexcellentonlinedigitalimagescollectiononeighteenth‐centuryEnglandisthe
LewisWalpoleLibraryatYale.
Assignments:
1)In150words,describetheprincipalargumentpresentedbyoneoftheauthors
(secondarysourcesonly).
2)150words:whyItookthisclass?
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09/19 LibrarySession
ClassmeetsinMemorialLibrary,room231,foralibrarysessionwithJulianne
Haahr,WesternEuropeanStudiesLibrarian.
Assignment:Thinkaboutyourquestionforthelibraryspecialist,andwritethem
down.
IV.
09/26 Reform,SpatialandMoral
Read:
*RobertB.Shoemaker,“ReformingtheCity:TheReformationofMannersCampaign
inLondon,1690‐1738,”inStillingtheGrumblingHive:TheResponsetoSocialand
EconomicProblemsinEngland,1689‐1750,editedbyLeeDavisonetal.(Wolfeboro
Halls,NC:AlanSutton,1992),99‐120.
‐ChrisOtter,“CleansingandClarifying:TechnologyandPerceptioninNineteenth‐
CenturyLondon,”JournalofBritishStudies43,no.1(2004),SpecialIssueon
TransformingMetropolitanLondon1750‐1960:pp.40‐64]
*BrendaAssael,“MusicintheAir:Noise,Performers,andtheContestoverthe
StreetsoftheMid‐Nineteenth‐CenturyMetropolis,”inTimHitchcockandHeather
Shore,eds.,TheStreetsofLondon:FromtheGreatFiretotheGreatStink(London,
RiversOram,2003),183‐197.
Assingment:
1)In250wordsorless,discussoneofthearticlesabove:whatistheargument,and
whyisitatallimportant(i.e.whatarethelargerquestionstheauthorattemptsto
address).
2)Whatismyresearchquestion,andhowwillIanswerit(1page).DueMonday
09/24noon.
V.
10/03 AModernBabylon?
Read:
*JudithWalkowitz,CityofDreadfulDelight:NarrativesofSexualDangerinLate‐
VictorianLondon(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1992):chapter3,“The
MaidenTributeofModernBabylon,”pp.81‐122.
III.
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*GarethStedmanJones,OutcastLondon:AStudyintheRelationshipbetweenClasses
inVictorianSociety”(Oxford:ClarendonPress,1971),chapter16,“From
‘Demoraliza‐tion’to‘Degeneration’:TheThreatofOutcastLondon,”pp.281‐314.
*HenryMayhewonthecostermongers,fromhisLondonLabourandtheLondonPoor
(1851).
*OctaviaHillontheinfluenceofblocksofmodeldwellingsoncharacter,inCharles
Booth,LifeandLabourofthePeopleofLondon,3rdedition,vol.5,(1902).
‐ForStead’sarticleontheMaidenTributeofModernBabylon,see
http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/maiden.htm(thisisanexcellent
websitewithlotsofprimarysourcesonVictorianLondon).
Assignment:
FindaprimarysourcerelatingtothehistoryofmodernLondonusingtheresearch
toolsyouhavegainedinthelibrarysession;ideally,thiswouldbeasourcerelated
toyourownresearch,andwritea500‐wordanalysisofthesource(author,genre,
audience,whatyouhavelearnedfromit,whatquestionsitraised).Bringboththe
sourceandyouranalysistoclass.
VI.
10/10 LondonandBritishness
Read:
*JonathanSchneer,London1900:TheImperialMetropolis(NewHaven:Yale
UniversityPress,1999),PartI:“ImperialLondon,”chapter5,“PopularCultureinthe
ImperialMetropolis,”93‐115.
*MicaNava,“WiderHorizonsandModernDesire:TheContradictionsofAmerica
andRacialDifferenceinLondon,1939‐1945,”NewFormationsno.37 (1999),
specialissueonSexualGeographies:71‐91.
‐MattHoulbrook,“SoldierHeroesandRentBoys:Homosex,Masculinities,andRent
BoysintheBrigadeofGuards,c.1900‐1960,JournalofBritishStudies42,no.3:
351‐388[JSTOR]
Assignment:
Listofavailablesourcesandabriefdiscussion(2pp.);dueMonday10/08,noon.
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VII.
10/17
PostwarFantasies
‐FrankMort,“FantasiesofMetropolitanLife:PlanningLondoninthe1940s,”Journal
ofBritishStudies43,no.1(2004),SpecialIssueonTransformingMetropolitan
London1750‐1960:120‐151.
BeckyConekin,“’HereistheModernWorldItself:’TheFestivalofBritain’s
RepresentationsoftheFuture,”inMomentsofModernity:ReconstructingBritain
1945‐1964,editedbyBeckyConekin,FrankMort,andChrisWaters(Londonand
NewYork:RiversOram,1999),pp.228‐246.
Assignment:
Prepare3‐4pp.planofpaperandbringittoclass.
VIII. 10/24
GlobalLondononFilm
Movie:DirtyPrettyThings(StephenFrears,2002)
Read:
ZygmuntBauman,Globalization:TheHumanConsequences(Cambridge,
1998),chapter4:“TouristsandVagabonds,”77‐102.
Assignment:
Reviseyourpaperplanaccordingtoyourpeer’ssuggestion.Revisedversionduein
class.
IX.
10/31 IndividualmeetingswithInstructor(10/30‐31).
X.
11/07
Noclass
XI.
11/14
Noclass
**FirstdraftdueFriday,November16,noon**
XII.
11/21
Noclass
XIII. 11.28
FinalPresentations
XIV. 12/05 FinalPresentations
XV.
12/12 **Finalpapersdue12/121:00pm**
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