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Memory & Memoirs of 20th Century Europe (EURO30002)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5Not available in 2024
Overview
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The eye-witness account and the personal memoir offer powerful ways of exploring the human legacy of overwhelming historical events on individual lives. But how do literary genres like the memoir and autobiography manage to speak about unspeakable topics, how do they represent the unrepresentable and write about trauma? What is the function, and what the effect, of writing memory for the victim, for the reader, and for the perpetrator? How do the offspring of the victims and perpetrators "remember" their parents" traumas and shape memories of events they have only experienced second-hand? What is the relationship between fiction and memory in memoir writing and how do we read a testimonial of a Holocaust survivor that has been faked? This subject will introduce students to a selection of testimonial writing and films that tell individual stories of a shameful national past. It explores the effect of generic convention on the relation of history and memory, and the need for generic invention to speak trauma and tell the un-tellable. Its focus will be on the Holocaust, the Algerian War, and life under Eastern bloc communist regimes. This subject will focus on writing from France, Germany, and Italy in the first instance, but may from time to time include writing from other parts of Europe.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject, students should:
- Be able to engage critically with personal and theoretical perspectives on European histories of violence and their genres and forms
- Be able to communicate knowledge effectively about Europe's present and past, and its traditions in polished oral and sophisticated written assignments
- Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of memoir and memory writing about traumatic pasts in 20th century Europe
- Have developed advanced research skills in the constituent disciplines of European memory studies, trauma studies and Holocaust studies and learn to contextualise fictional and factual writing about trauma
- Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the impact of Europe's histories of violence in relation to second and third generation writing about the past and from the Americas and Australasia
- Have acquired comprehensive critical insights through their engagement with Europe that prepare them for becoming good global citizens
- Be able to work with independence, self- reflection and creativity to meet goals and challenges in the workplace and personal life.
Generic skills
At the completion of this subject, students should:
- Have enhanced their understanding of texts through reference to existing scholarship
- Appreciate the cultural complexity of issues that circulate in the popular media
- Be able to identify and explore issues across texts from different contexts
- Be able to engage critically with texts in oral presentation
- Be able to interpret in writing the meaning of literature with attention to social context and language.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURO20003 | Memory & Memoirs of 20th Century Europe | Not available in 2024 |
12.5 |
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Written assignment
| Mid semester | 20% |
1000 word individual class paper
| During the teaching period | 30% |
Final essay
| 50% | |
| Hurdle requirement: 1. Attendance hurdle requirement: This subject has a minimum requirement of 80% attendance at tutorials, seminars, or workshops. There is an expectation that students attend lectures. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
| Hurdle requirement: 2. Late Penalty and Assessment hurdle requirement: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at five per cent (5%) of the possible marks available for the assessment task per day or part thereof. All pieces of assessment must be submitted to pass the subject. Each submitted assessment must be complete, constitute a genuine attempt to address the requirements of the task and will not be accepted after 20 University business days from the original assessment due date without written approval. | Throughout the semester | N/A |
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Dates & times
Not available in 2024
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
- If there is a Man (P Levi) Abacus by Sphere Books 1987
- Everything is Illuminated (J S Foer) Penguin 2002
- A Women in Berlin (Anonymous) Metropolitan Books 2005
- Auschwitz and After (C Delbo) Yale University Press 1997
- Additional material to be supplied by the department
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Specialisation (formal) French Studies Specialisation (formal) Spanish and Latin American Studies Major French Studies Specialisation (formal) Italian Studies Specialisation (formal) Russian Studies Major German Studies Major Spanish and Latin American Studies Minor European Studies minor Major Russian Studies Major Italian Studies - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 11 April 2024