DEPARTMENT OF History
module handbook
2008-2009
COld war contexts
Co-ordinator: Dr. Christoph Mick
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Syllabus:
Seminar Option 1: Cold War America 4
Seminar Option 2: Cold War Russia 6
Seminar Option 3: Cold War Eastern Europe 7
Seminar Option 4: Cold War Religion: Left Catholicism in Western
Europe, 1943-1955 8
Seminar Option 5: Cold War Gender: Nuclear Family, Nuclear War 10
Seminar Option 6: Cold War Popular Culture: Spies, Space and
Marxism-Lennonism 13
Introduction
Cold War Contexts is taught in Term Two and acts as a continuation of the Rethinking the Cold War option, allowing students to work with staff in areas close to their research interests.
You will be expected to take three of these three-week sub-modules from the menu at left, subject to sabbatical leave. A 5,000-word piece of written work may be based on one or more of the individual modules.
Seminar Option 1: Cold War America
Readings:
General reading:
William Chafe, The Unfinished Journey: America Since World War II (1995)
John Patrick Diggins, The Proud Decades: America in War and Peace, 1941-60 (1988)
Geoffrey Hodgson, America in Our Time (1976).
1.) The Anticommunist Crusade: The politics of anticommunism; social and cultural consequences; anticommunism, at home and abroad, after McCarthy.
Ø David Caute, The Great Fear: The Anti-Communist Purge Under Truman and Eisenhower (1978)
Ø Richard M. Fried, The Russians are coming ! The Russians are coming ! Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold War America (1998)
Ø M. J. Heale, McCarthy’s Americans: Red Scare Politics in State and Nation, 1935-1965 (1998)
Ø Arthur Miller, Timebends (1987)
Ø Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief History With Documents (2002 edn.)
2.) The Affluent Society: economic growth; social conformity; the culture of consumerism; faultlines from the mid 1960s
Ø Wini Breines, Young, White and Miserable: Growing Up Female in Fifties America (1992)
Ø J. K. Galbraith, The Affluent Society (1984)
Ø Herbert J. Gans, The Levittowners (1967)
Ø Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American families in the Cold War Era (1990)
Ø William Whyte, The Organisation Man (1956)
3.) Reformers, Dissenters and Revolutionaries: communism in the 1950s; the Beat Generation; Civil Rights, the New Left and the Counterculture; the end of Liberal America.
Ø James Campbell, This is the Beat Generation (1999)
Ø Robert Cook, Sweet Land of Liberty (1997)
Ø Gunter Lewy, The Cause that Failed: Communism in American Political Life (1990)
Ø Allen J. Matusow, The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s (1984)
Ø James Miller, Democracy is in the Streets: From Port Huron to the Siege of Chicago (1987)
Ø David Farber, The Sixties: From Memory to History (1994)
For further reading see the reading lists for AM211 Reform, Revolt and Reaction in the US, 1932-75, and AM401 From McCarthy to Elvis: America in the Fifties, both available online at the department website.
Seminar Option 2 : Cold War Russia
Seminars
1) First glimpses: the origin of the totalitarianism thesis
2) The 'thaw'
3) The 'second cold war'
Readings
Core Reading
Ø John Gunther, Inside Russia Today (1958)
Ø Laurens van der Post, Journey into Russia (1964)
Ø Hedrick Smith, The Russians (1976)
Ø Robert Kaiser, Russia: The People and the Power (1976)
Ø Abbott Gleason, Totalitarianism: The Inner History of the Cold War (1995)
Other Travellers’ Accounts
Ø Eric Newby, The Big Red Train Ride: A Ride on the Trans-Siberian Express (1978)
Ø Elizabeth Pond
Ø Colin Thubron, Among the Russians (1985)
Ø Michael Binyon, Life in Russia (1985)
Ø Anthony Barnett, Soviet Freedom (1988)
Ø Martin Walker, The Waking Giant: The Soviet Union under Gorbachev (1986)
Ø Susan Richards, Epics of Everyday Life (1990)
Ø Philip Marsden, The Spirit Wrestlers (1999)
Seminar Option 3 : Eastern Europe
This section of the course aims to show something of the variety of thought and practice in eastern Europe in the lengthy Cold War period. The first seminar deals with the techniques by which Stalinism was installed, including its bid for intelligentsia support. The second evaluates attempts to reform the system, politically and economically, while the third investigates what kind of society eastern Europe actually became under communism and how this should be classified.
Seminars
1) High communism: the starting point
2) Bids for reform: 1968 and all that
3) Towards socialist consumerism? What kind of society?
Seminar Option 4 : Cold War Religion (Left Catholicism in Western Europe, 1943-1955)
The World War II experience of occupation, resistance and eventual liberation shook up patterns of behaviour, thought and political action of those Europeans lucky enough to survive. The mass movement phase of the underground resistance movements and the post-liberation period must be regarded as the low point in terms of popular acceptance rates of market economies and capitalism as the social system of choice. Small wonder that a profound wave of left radicalism began to make waves even within the spiritual boundaries of the staunchly conservative Catholic Church.
In this three-week optional seminar, we will study the impact of this widespread rejection of the values of free enterprise and capitalism, largely identified with the twin scourges of fascism and war, on the lifeworld of Catholicism in western Europe. Emphasis will be placed on the threefold dimension in which this emerging Left Catholicism manifested itself: a) the development of early forms of liberation theology; b) significant reconfigurations in the party-political sphere, with new Catholic political formations, such as Italy’s Movement of Catholic Communists, capturing the attention of portions of society and the electorate; and c) the translation of this radical ferment into social movement activism, such as the worker priest phenomenon.
Readings:
Ø Gerd-Rainer Horn and Emmanuel Gerard (eds.), Left Catholicism: Catholics and Society in Western Europe at the Point of Liberation 1943-1955 (Leuven, 2001)
Ø John Petrie (ed.), The Worker-Priests: A Collective Documentation (London, 1956)
Ø Jean-Marie Domenach and Robert de Montvalon, The Catholic Avant-Garde: French Catholicism Since World War II (New York, 1967)
Ø John Hellman, Emmanuel Mounier and the New Catholic Left 1930-1950 (Toronto, 1981)
Ø Jacques Loew, Mission to the Poorest (London, 1950)
Ø Jacques Maritain, True Humanism (London, 1941)
Ø Emmanuel Mounier, Be Not Afraid: A Denunciation of Despair (New York, 1962)
Ø Emmanuel Mounier, Personalism (Notre Dame, 1970)
Ø Henri Perrin, Priest and Worker (London, 1965)
Ø Christophe Potworowski, Contemplation and Incarnation: The Theology of Marie-Dominique Chenu (Montréal, 2001)
Ø Gregor Siefer, The Church and Industrial Society: A Survey of the Worker-Priest Movement and its Implications for the Christian Mission (London, 1964)
Ø Emmanuel Suhard, The Church Today (Chicago, 1953)
Ø Emmanuel Suhard, The Pastoral Letters (London, 1955)
Ø Emmanuel Suhard, Priests Among Men (Chicago, 1949)
Seminar Option 5 : Cold War Gender: Nuclear Family, Nuclear War
This option explores how the Cold War shaped gender relations, sexuality and the politics of feminism. Historians have noted the contradictory impact of Cold War culture. The anxieties of the era created a climate that could hamper women’s activism, but sometimes these anxieties allowed for women’s public participation. Women came to symbolise safety and security yet Cold War rhetoric created a dimension of sexual fear. The ‘feminine mystique’ defined women’s place as in the home, the home being a bulwark of social stability. This was also the era greatly influenced by psychology and psychoanalysis, experts from these disciplines promoted traditional femininity. Women’s sexuality was increasingly regulated but also had a greater public presence than ever before. The impact of the Kinsey Reports, for instance, caused shock waves in American society. By the early 1960s women were beginning to redefine politics and citizenship and increasingly began to play a more public and visible role in reform organisations. Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique helped launch the 1960s feminist movement. We will look in detail at that work, and its impact on feminism.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
§ To understand how the complexities of the Cold War period shaped gender relations
§ To appreciate the contradictions and ambiguities evident in the study of gender relations in this period
§ To become familiar with key texts such as Betty Friedan’s, The Feminine Mystique
Seminars
1) The Rise of the Women's Liberation Movement
2) Cold War Sexualities
3) Feminism, Militarism and Anti-Militarism
Readings:
Ø Davidson, James West and Mark Hamilton Lytle, ‘From Rose to Lucy: the mass media images of women in the 1950s,’ in West and Hamilton (eds.), After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection (2nd ed., New York, 1986), pp.
Ø D’Emilio, John and Estelle B. Freedman, Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Chicago, 1997).
Ø Friedan, Betty, The Feminine Mystique (New York, 1963, many editions since).
Harrison, Cynthia, On Account of Sex: The Politics of Women’s Issues, 1945-1968 (Berkeley, 1988).
Ø Horowitz, Daniel, Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique: The American Left, The Cold War and Modern Feminism (Amherst, 1998).
Ø Laville, Helen, Cold War Women (Manchester, 2002).
Ø McEnaney, Laura, Civil Defence Begins at Home: Militarisation Meets Everyday Life in the Fifties (Princeton, 2000).
Ø May, Elaine Tyler, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York, 1988).
Ø Meyerowitz, Joanne, ‘Beyond the Feminine Mystique: a reassessment of postwar mass culture, 1946-1958,’ Journal of American History 79 (1993), pp 1455-82.
Ø ______, (ed.), Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960 (Philadelphia, 1994).
Ø ______, ‘Sex, gender and the Cold War language of reform’, in James Gilbert and Peter Kuznick (eds.), Rethinking Cold War Culture (Washington, 2001), pp 106-23.
Ø Moskowitz, Eva, ‘“It’s good to blow your top”: women’s magazines and a discourse of discontent, 1945-1965,’ Journal of Women’s History, 8 (1996), pp. 66-98.
Ø Rosenberg, Emily S. ‘Foreign affairs after World War II: connecting sexual and international politics,’ Diplomatic History, 18 (1994), pp. 59-70.
Ø Rupp, Lelia J. and Verta Taylor, Survival in the Doldrums: the American Women’s Rights Movement, 1945- to the 1960s (New York, 1987).
Ø Weigand, Kate, ‘The Red Menace: the feminine mystique, and Ohio un-American activities commission: gender and anti-communism in Ohio, 1951-54,’ Journal of Women’s History, 3 (1992), pp. 70-94.
Seminar Option 6 : Cold War Popular Culture: Spies, Space and Marxism-Lennonism
1) Bond and Beyond: Voyeurism and Betrayal in the British Spy Thriller
2) Invasion Fantasies and New Frontiers: American Science Fiction
3) Only Rock 'n' Roll?: Popular Music Behind the Iron Curtain
Readings:
Background texts
Ø Fried, Richard M., The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming: Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold War America (New York, 1998).
Ø Haut, Woody, Pulp Culture: Hardboiled Fiction and the Cold War (London: Serpent’s Tail, 1995). PM
Ø Hixson, Walter L., Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1997).
Ø Inglis, Fred, The Cruel Peace: Everyday Life in the Cold War (London: Aurum, 1992).
Ø Nadel, Alan, Containment Culture: American Narratives, Postmodernism and the Atomic Age (Durham and London: Duke UP, 1995). PM
Ø Schwartz, Richard A., Cold War Culture: Media and the Arts, 1945-1990 (Facts on File, 2000). PM
Ø Shaw, Tony, British Cinema and the Cold War (London: I. B. Tauris, 2000). PN3263.S6
Seminars
1. Bond and Beyond: Voyeurism and Betrayal in the British Spy Thriller
Who is the enemy in the British spy thriller?
Core texts
le Carré, John, ‘To Russia, with Greetings’, Encounter (May 1966), 3-6. see handout
______, Introduction to Page, Bruce et al., Philby: The Spy Who Betrayed a Generation (London: Andre Deutsch, 1968).
Eco, Umberto, ‘Narrative Structures in Fleming’, in id., The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts (Bloomington, Ind. and London: Indiana UP, 1979).
Please try to read the asterisked texts below plus one literary criticism.
Texts
Ø *Le Carré, John, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1963) - washed-up SIS man defects to GDR, or does he?
Ø ______, Smiley’s People (1980).
Ø Deighton, Len, Funeral in Berlin (1964) - defection via coffin haunted by Nazi skeletons. Chandleresque burlesque?
Ø Fleming, Ian, Casino Royale (1953) - playboy Bond stakes manhood against sado-commies for girl and country.
Ø *______, From Russia, With Love (1957) - Moscow plans honeytrap assassination. Will Tatiana get her man?
Ø ______, ‘The Living Daylights’, Octopussy (1962) - trigger-unhappy 007 finds nasty surprise in sniperscope.
Ø Greene, Graham, Our Man in Havana (1958) - informant’s invented intelligence reports start coming true. Why?
Ø ______, The Human Factor (1978) - another rather seedy tale of deception.
Ø McEwan, Ian, The Innocent or The Special Relationship (1990) - Anglo-American love-hate in a Berlin tunnel.
Films
Ø From Russia with Love (Young, 1963) - Lotte Lenya in THOSE shoes. Bond before the gadgets took over. PM
Ø The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Ritt, 1965). PM
Commentaries
Ø Aronoff, Myron J., The Spy Novels of John le Carré: Balancing Ethics and Politics (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1999). PM
Ø Barley, Tony, Taking Sides: The Fiction of John le Carré (Milton Keynes/Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1986). PM
Ø Beene, LynnDianne, John le Carré (New York: Twayne, 1992). PM
Ø Bennett, Tony and Janet Woollacott, Bond and Beyond: The Political Career of a Popular Hero (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1987). PN3244.5.B6
Ø Black, Jeremy, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming's Novels to the Big Screen (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2001). PN3244.5.B6
Ø Chapman, James, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (London: I. B. Tauris, 1999). PN3244.5.B6
Ø Cobbs, John L., Understanding John le Carré (University of South Carolina Press, 1997). PM
Ø Denning, Michael, Cover Stories: Narrative and Ideology in the British Spy Thriller (London, 1987). PR888.S79
Ø Hixson, Walter L., ‘“Red Storm Rising”: Tom Clancy Novels and the Cult of National Security’, Diplomatic History, 17 (1993), 599-613.
Ø Lewis, Peter, John le Carré (New York: Ungar, 1985). PM
Ø Lindner, Christoph (ed.), The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader (Manchester: MUP, 2003). PN3244.5.B6