How has 500 years of colonialism left its mark on Britain? Whilst some scholars assert that the British were indifferent to empire – that empire was acquired in a ‘fit of absence of mind’ (JR Seeley) – others point to the many traces of empire left in British society and culture to this day. This course analyses these effects and legacies by focusing on the artefacts of empire. If you look closely, empire seems to be everywhere across British history: in consumer goods and fashion, the built environment and the domestic interior, advertising, visual media and museums, as well as institutions such as the monarchy and the BBC. But is this a culture of empire, or simply a random mix of influences from around the world? To what extent is this material culture mediated by narratives of colonial power and racial superiority? The module begins with the conquest of Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries and the onset of slavery in the Caribbean, then looks at the colonization of North America and parts of the Pacific, before moving through the British Raj in India and onto the colonial conquests of Africa and the Middle East, finishing with the end of empire after 1945 and the imperial nostalgia that feeds Brexit. Throughout the course we focus on cultural objects, their context and their interpretation. Assessment takes the form of one (ungraded) assignment: a 2000 word essay due at the end of the module. You receive 5 ECTS for this seminar.
This course is offered in English.
It takes place in room 105 at Mohrenstraße 60 (Großbritannien-Zentrum).
It will be taught in a hybrid form, mostly face to face, with the possibility to participate per zoom. Lectures will be recorded.
Please register in this moodle course: https://moodle.hu-berlin.de/course/view.php?id=108426 (when it is open) in order to receive the first zoom session details.
For the key please ask Corinna Radke (corinna.radke@hu-berlin.de) or Catherine Smith (catherine.smith@staff.hu-berlin.de).
For any further questions please refer to Prof Miles Taylor (miles.taylor@hu-berlin.de).