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In the part of London´s East End known as Spitalfields, one can find “the history of a nation in a handful of streets” (D. Cruickshank). This was traditionally where immigrants and refugees found work and cheap accommodation. Its history is a history of transformations. French refugees came from the 1680s, German immigrants and Jewish refugees from the Russian Empire followed in the 19th century. The next substantial wave of immigrants, this time from the Indian sub-continent, arrived in the 20th century. In the late 20th century, artists, writers and musicians came to live in Spitalfields. This was followed by a wave of gentrification. A part of London that had been associated with immigrants and poverty now became hip and trendy.
We are not only going to study the fascinating social and cultural history of Spitalfields, but also the Spitalfields of the imagination, Spitalfields in Literature and art. This is a place that is full of ghosts and memories, all of them kept alive and sustained by novels, images and, these days, blogs.
There will be a five-day study tour to the East End of London; further details will be announced in the seminar.
A substantial reader will be made available from the usual place in Reckhammerweg. You can get a first taste of what we are going to work on by reading the Spitalfields Life blog (spitalfieldslife.com). As always: think, enjoy (!), annotate, and look things up if necessary. Requirements: thorough preparation for each session, active participation, and, if applicable, written work/exam according to your particular Studienordnung. |
