The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. --Antonio Gramsci, political theorist and activist

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1 Page 1 Topics in Cultural Journalism: Cataclysm and Commitment JOUR-GA 2081 Wednesdays, 6-9 p.m. - Library 20 Cooper Square, 7 th floor library Professor Susie Linfield tel / susie.linfield@nyu.edu The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. --Antonio Gramsci, political theorist and activist The fundamental experience of everyone who has lived through much of this [20 th ] century is error and surprise. --Eric Hobsbawm, historian The acknowledgment that something can take place in the world that has never happened before might be the starting point of any real intellectual activity. --Greil Marcus, cultural critic What are the key political events of the 20 th (and early 21 st ) century? And how did journalists--those on the spot, and those who subsequently reflected on such events--write about them? This class is predicated on two ideas: that historical knowledge is necessary for any journalist (and any citizen); and that journalists--far from simply writing the "first draft" of history--have, throughout the last century, created works of lasting literary, moral, intellectual and historical resonance. This seminar will focus explicitly on extraordinary political events that made, and changed, the political (and moral) realities of the past century, and that created the world we inhabit now. Throughout the term we will return to certain questions, including the changing nature of violence; the tension between nationalism and universalism; the question of progress ; the emergence of disputed concepts such as

2 Page 2 "crimes against humanity" and "human rights." We ll consider the ways in which the face of war in the 20 th century (and early 21 st ) has changed--and the ways in which the journalism that described those wars and events changed, also. And we ll investigate--to use a phrase of Primo Levi s-- if this is a man : i.e. is there anything fundamentally human about human beings? If so, how do we understand, much less explain, the things that human beings do to each other? Readings: All of these books will be available, in paperback, at McNally Jackson Books (52 Prince St.). Articles will be xeroxed and distributed to you in advance. The syllabus may change as the term progresses. Books to buy (listed in roughly chronological order): **George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia **Martha Gellhorn, The Face of War **Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz (If This is a Man) **Ryszard Kapuscinski, Shah of Shahs **Tina Rosenberg, Children of Cain **Timothy Garton Ash, The Magic Lantern **Peter Maass, Love Thy Neighbor **Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families **Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull **Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower Assignments: Phrases such as human rights, the right of self-determination, crimes against humanity and humanitarian intervention, and words like genocide, democracy, terrorism, fundamentalism, fascism and colonialism, are frequently, and often opportunistically, employed in discussions of present-day world conflicts. How are these words used, and what if anything do they mean? Are they descriptions, weapons, indictments, or something else? To think about this more deeply, each student will keep a file of feature articles found throughout the term, using as wide an array of sources as

3 Page 3 possible, in which one of these phrases or concepts is used. At the end of the semester, you will present your file to me along with an analysis of the pieces chosen and what light, if any, they shed on the contentious questions your chosen word or phrase claims to address. You will present one such piece to the class and lead a discussion on it (a sign-up sheet will be circulated at the first class). Response papers: For each week s readings, each student will write a word response paper. We ll read these aloud and discuss in class. Please try to distinguish, when thinking about the readings, between your feelings and your thoughts: both are legitimate, but it is important to distinguish them. Final paper: I am open to a range of approaches for your final capstone piece. Here are a few: You can choose several major historical works for the area, subject or event you wish to concentrate on, and analyze the similarities and differences in the ways that historians and journalists cover similar events. What are the strengths and drawbacks of each discipline? Where do they converge, where diverge? In what ways have they become more similar--and in which ways more separate--as the century progressed? How do journalists and historians engage the dialectic between commitment, objectivity and accuracy? Alternately, you may analyze the ways in which the role, function, techniques and outlooks of "crisis reporters" themselves have and have not changed in the course of the century. Or: You may choose to analyze one of the themes that will emerge from our readings--including the nature of revolutionary violence; humanitarianism vs. human rights; internationalism vs. nationalism; isolationism vs. intervention; the emergence of the "Third World"; reconciliation and forgiveness versus justice and vengeance; disputed definitions of "democracy"; the role of the intellectual; the nature of genocide--utilizing both our collective readings and your own independent research.

4 Page 4 Or: You may concentrate on reporting and/or analyzing a current political event, movement or crisis, and its relation to some of the readings of our course. Or: You may focus on the works of one journalist either someone we are reading, or someone currently writing, or a historic figure. Or:... However: You must propose a topic for my approval within the first three weeks of the semester, and I strongly suggest that you submit a draft of your paper mid-term. Do not leave the researching and writing of this paper until the last few weeks of the term: it will not work. Your file is due the penultimate week of the semester, and your paper at our last class; no extensions or incompletes will be given. Please submit two copies, double-spaced, of your final paper. Our schedule: Week 1, Sept. 2: Introduction Week 2, Sept. 9: George Orwell (Spanish Civil War) Week 3, Sept. 16: Martha Gellhorn (World War II, and aftermath) Week 4, Sept. 23: Primo Levi (the Holocaust) Week 5, Sept. 30: Ryszard Kapuscinski (Iranian Revolution) plus: current dispatches from Iran Week 6, Oct. 7: Tina Rosenberg (Latin America) plus: current dispatches from Latin America Week 7, Oct. 14: Timothy Garton Ash (fall of Communism in Eastern Europe) Week 8, Oct. 21: Peter Maass (Bosnian War)

5 Page 5 Week 9, Oct. 28: Philip Gourevitch, Jean Hatzfeld (Rwandan genocide) plus: current dispatches from Rwanda Week 10, Nov. 4: Antjie Krog (South Africa) plus: current dispatches from S. Africa Week 11, Nov. 11: FILM: Hothouse, directed by Shimon Dotan (Israel/Palestine) plus: Lawrence Wright, Letter from Gaza (New Yorker, 2009) [to be distributed]// plus: current dispatches from Israel & Palestine Week 12, Nov. 18: Lawrence Wright (9/11 terror attacks) [no class Nov. 25: Thanksgiving] Week 13: Dec. 2: Lawrence Wright, cont. [[NOTE: Files due]] Week 14, Dec. 9: Arab Spring, articles to come; plus: final thoughts [[NOTE: Final papers due]]