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Throughout its long and varied history, the East End has been one of the most dynamic parts ofLondon. As it lay just outside the City ofLondon, it was a place where hazardous industries and unpopular institutions (such as bell foundries and a hospital for lepers) were tolerated. This was also where immigrants were most likely to arrive and settle down – a place where newcomers could find a first job and a cheap place to stay, a zone presenting a mix of poverty and opportunities. As such, it was a vital stepping-stone for those looking for a better or safer life, i.e. both economic migrants and refugees. Thus, theEast Endbecame home to Huguenots in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, German- and Yiddish-speaking people in the nineteenth and Bangladeshis in the twentieth century. It was imagined and described asLondon’s “dark continent” inhabited by miserable paupers and, perhaps most notably, Jack the Ripper, but also as a colourful, “oriental” bit ofLondonthat enhanced Metropolitan life. TheEast End’s latest incarnation has been increasingly redefined by an ongoing process of gentrification transforming more and more ofBrick Laneand the surrounding area.
We shall work both on the cultural history of theEast Endand on its manifold representations in literature, the visual arts and music. A reader will be made available well in advance of the semester (Copyshop Reckhammerweg 4). As always: read, think, enjoy (!!), annotate (!) and look things up if necessary.
Requirements: regular attendance, reading the assigned texts, active participation, and a seminar paper (“Seminararbeit”). |
