Introductory description

The module has been devised to draw on a growing inter-disciplinary relationship between the English and Law Departments. Recognising that there exists significant expertise in both departments in relation to the academic analysis of human rights related writing (from journalism to legal judgments) and the production of writing in this subject, the module intends to provide students with a unique opportunity to study the writing of human rights through a double prism: writing and law.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

After an introductory session, the module will be separated into three sections each lasting
three weeks. Each section will comprise of two seminars studying literature related to specific
‘moments’ (or ‘knots’) and one writing workshop. The workshop will study writing projects of the
students that relate to a particular form of writing.

The syllabus will be as follows:

Week 1: Introduction

Knot 1: State Systems of Injustice:

Week 2: South African Apartheid
Texts to be studied from:
Breyton Breytonbach, True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist
André Brink, A Dry White Season
Albie Sachs, Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter
Benjamin Zephania, Too Black Too Strong
The Biko Inquest film

Week 3: The ‘Camp’: Gulag, Holocaust, Guantanemo
Texts to be studied from:
Alexander Solzienytsyhn, The Gulag Archipeligo
Priomo Levi, If this is a Man/The Truce
Anne Applebaum, Gulag

Week 4: Workshop: Power of fiction
Student presentations

Knot 2: The ‘Enemy Within’: writing about terrorism/rebels/political prisoners

Week 5: Northern Ireland and the IRA
Texts to be studied from:
Kevin Toolis, Rebel Hearts

Week 6: Suppression and Public Protest: From Gandhi to Student Fees
Texts to be studied from:
Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet
Mohandas Gandhi, Essential Writings

Week 7: Workshop: reporting on protest
Student presentations

Knot 3: Writing about ‘Evil(s)’

Week 8: ‘Evil’ on trial: international tribunals and international criminal justice
Texts to be studied from:
Hannah Arendt, Eichman in Jerusalem
Philip Gourevitch, We wish to inform you…
John Hersey, Hiroshima

Week 9: The Evils of Nature: response to humanitarian disaster
Texts to be studied from:
David Kennedy, The Dark Sides of Virtue

Workshop: Representing the Trial

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Practise and evaluate writing about human rights and their abuse on the basis of a knowledge both of important aspects of their development and of practical issues which relate to it.
• Communicate sophisticatedly on matters relevant to the topic, both orally and in writing.
• Analyse examples of the form critically.
• Conduct research in public archives, through a range of published work and / or by oral interview (in conformity with University ethical policy).
• Demonstrate critical analysis identifying the proper roles of theory and fact; evaluating the logic and empirical claims of rival arguments; identifying assumptions; following extended trains of argument; understanding clearly the practical implications of theory.

Indicative reading list

Illustrative Bibliography:
List the core texts only. The illustrative bibliography should provide an indication of the focus and
level of the reading required by this module, rather than the full range (this should not be more
than half a page):

Breyten Breytenbach, The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist (1994)
André Brink, A Dry White Season (1992)
Albie Sachs, Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter (1990)
Benjamin Zephania, Too Black Too Strong (2001)
The Biko Inquest film
Kevin Toolis, Rebel Hearts (1997)
Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark (1997)
Bernard MacLaverty, Cal (1998)
Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet
Mohandas Gandhi, Essential Writings (2008)
Hannah Arendt, Eichman in Jerusalem (2006)
Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust (1991)
Philip Gourevitch, We wish to inform you…(2000)
David Kennedy, The Dark Sides of Virtue (2005)
John Hersey, Hiroshima (2002)

Subject specific skills

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Transferable skills

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