معلومات المقرر

Historians have become increasingly interested in war as an agent of change in the twentieth century. Apart from causing destruction and loss of life, war has served as a motor for innovation in the realms of technology, medicine and the cultural sphere. It has also disrupted established gender relations in European societies. In this course, we will study how war affected societies’ understandings of gender and how war impacted differently on the sexes. For instance, we will analyze how mobilizations appealed to, or undermined, pre-established notions of masculinity and femininity. Similarly, we will see how the experience of increasingly civilian and total wars challenged notions of chivalry and “manly” fighting and placed in harm’s way those previously regarded as non-combatants. In some cases war also promised women liberation by offering them new challenges and positions of public responsibility. However, twentieth century conflict generated or intensified demand for sex work, as well as promoting the use of sexual violence, predominantly against women. We will therefore study the effects of violence, not least sexual violence, on the wellbeing of women and men who suffered trauma and other psychological disorders.
The two world wars will feature heavily in this course. However, we will also focus on colonial wars waged by European nations in the twentieth century. Considering colonial wars will enable us to reflect on how ideas of gender, race and civilization impacted upon each other, particularly during wartime. Finally, the course will move on to the Cold War and invite us to think about its impact on gender compared with the other wars of the twentieth century.