The horrors of war are often described as unspeakable and unimaginable. Words supposedly fail to convey the cruelty and suffering caused by large-scale organized violence and destruction. Yet even a cursory look at the history of the written word reveals that literature does not obey these limits. From the siege of Troy to that of Sarajevo and beyond, war has been a frequent literary subject, one that reaches across different periods, genres, and national traditions. Other than perhaps weapons technology, no other human undertaking has had a greater impact on our experience of war than its literary renderings.
In this course we will look at literary representations of a particular type of warfare, the so-called total war, in one of the regions where its effects are most profoundly felt: Central and Eastern Europe. Wars become total when entire societies are mobilized and targeted, and when escape from the illogic of war seems impossible. It is at moments like these (and against all odds) that literary imagination can rise above the depths of human hell.
At its worst, literature can create conditions that make such wars appear inevitable. At its best, it can counter the aims of violence by preserving the memory of lives, records, and hopes destroyed in armed conflicts.
The course will begin with a brief historical survey of WWI and WWII literature and will then focus on contemporary literary responses to the senseless violence in Bosnia and Ukraine. Readings will include works by Walter Benjamin, Tadeusz Borowski, Polina Barskova, Bertolt Brecht, Miljenko Jergović, Marianna Kiyanovska, Miroslav Krleža, Andrey Kurkov, Alma Lazarevska, Saša Stanišić, Nenad Veličković, and Serhiy Zhadan.
All readings are in English and no prior knowledge of East European history or literature is required. For more information, contact DJordje Popović.
