The American Civil War – History, Literature, Culture

Prof. Dr. Christine Gerhardt (American Studies)
Prof. Dr. Sabine Freitag (Modern and Contemporary History)

Course Description

The American Civil War marks a major turning point in American history and American literature. Indeed, both developments are closely related. Almost three million soldiers fought, and 600,000 died in this “war of the rebellion” – black and white, native and immigrant, men and women; Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and subsequent military actions freed over one million individuals from slavery; at the end of this first modern war in American history, large parts of the US South lay in ruins. Yet according to Lincoln, what had started this unprecedented war was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s sentimental novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851). This bestseller had joined forces with hundreds of autobiographies by escaped slaves who described their heroic struggles for freedom as well as the horrors of human bondage in detail, while growing numbers of poems and stories explored the social and political rifts that challenged the ideal of a unified American nation. 

The Civil War, then, marked a shift from a predominantly agrarian to a more urban, industrialized United States, and a shift from American romanticism to realism. In this seminar, we will explore both of these developments together. Which stories do historical documents, photographs, and speeches tell, compared to the perspectives afforded by literary texts of various genres? How do documents and literary texts from that era talk about America’s regional diversity in relation to the country’s racial, economic, and gender inequalities? And how do they link politics to people’s everyday lives? Finally, how can a major socio-political upheaval like a Civil War, and the massive personal traumas it involves, be “represented” at all – and what are the connections between history and literature, and between hegemonic and subversive discourses in historiography and literary history?

This compact seminar welcomes English and History students. It offers a unique chance to study together and learn from each other in an affordable retreat in the French Alps (Haus Giersch, in Manigod).

There are only limited places available, so sign up now by sending an email to Christine Gerhardt (American Studies) or Sabine Freitag (History)!