Licence LCE Anglais Semestre 6 Année Universitaire 2006-07
Civilisation (US)
Bibliography
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Last update Ven 26 jan 2007 15:38
(A selective bibliography of works I consulted in developing the course can be found here.)
All of the following works are available, either in separate volumes or as parts of collections, at the University Library at the Manufacture des Tabacs.
Background and Philosophical Reflections on the notion of "Freedom"
(in chronological order)
John Milton, "Areopagitica"
Milton, best known as the blind author of the great classic blank-verse epic Paradise Lost, inspired by his intensely Puritan reading of the Bible, wrote "Areopagitica" as a defense of the freedom of the press, arguing for a concept similar to the "market-place of ideas", and holding that the truth must inevitably triumph when confronted with and compared to falsehood. This text is available as part of a collection of Milton's works at the University Library. An electronic version, with some modern commentary, is available from the Dartmouth College website here.
John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"
Mill was one of the major intellectuals of nineteenth century Britain. Among his other accomplishments, he was one of the early defenders of the rights of women, in "On the Subjection of Women". An electronic version of On Liberty can be found at the Bartleby on-line book site here.
Isaiah Berlin (edited by Henry Hardy), Liberty: Incorporating 'Four Essays on Liberty'
One of the twentieth century's great political philosophers, Berlin explains in deceptively lucid prose some of the complexities of the notion of liberty, including what he calls "positive liberty" and "negative liberty". The Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy has an article on this distinction here. Berlin's work is still under copyright, but a website about him that includes some excerpts from his writings can be found at the Oxford University website here. Berlin is also known for his essay on the hedgehog and the fox, which can be found here. His idea, quoted from the Greek poet Archilochus, is that 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing'.
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US History, including US Musical History
These works will be referred to often in the lecture, and provide extremely useful information and interpretations of US history, "freedom", both word and concept, in American political discourse, and musical history.
(alphabetical order, on author's last name)
Branham & Hartnett. Sweet Freedom's Song: "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and Democracy in America
"America", or, as it is often called, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", has been one of the US's favorite patriotic songs since 1831, when the words were written and set to the music of "God Save the King". Branham and Hartnett show how the original song, as well as variants, have been used both by ardent patriots intent on proving their loyalty to the US even its actions were difficult to justify, and by those who believed that their patriotism required that they should call attention to the US's mistakes and failings, with the objective of righting them.
Crawford, Richard. America's Musical Life: A History
Crawford's history is first and foremost a history of music in the US, but it is also an excellent general history. For example, the page of explanation of the causes of the US Civil War are among the most concise and lucid I have seen. His history of music in what is now the United States ranges from the deeply perceptive, pointing out links between phenomena that are anything but obvious, to the affectionately anecdotal: students will also certainly enjoy his anecdotes about Abraham Lincoln and the song "Dixie", for example. An interview Crawford granted in 1997 to the National Endowment for the Humanities can be found here.
Fischer, David Hackett. Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America's Founding Ideas
Whereas Eric Foner (see below) concentrates mainly on written, i.e., printed or other linguistic phenomena, Fischer is more interested in visual documents: handbills, posters, engravings, etc. He does not limit himself to such artefacts, important though they are in understanding various aspects of everyday patriotism in the US, but also includes, for example, erudite explanations of the etymological origins of the words "freedom" and "liberty" (introduction, p 5), which have become nearly synonymous, but, he would argue, not quite. The Oxford University Press (which published the book) describes it thus on its web-site.
Foner, Eric. The Story of American Freedom
Students should regard Foner's work as central to the course. He explains with enviable clarity the evolution of the word "freedom" and the concepts underlying it over the course of US history, from before Independence in 1776-89 to the early 1990s. Foner himself is a widely respected historian, the author of many books, who has been called upon more than once by investigative committees to give expert testimony on any number of sensitive issues. He has also written opinion pieces for various magazines that establish his credentials as a "liberal" in the US sense of the term, i.e., one who favors government action in the area of the economy, while backing limitations on government powers in the area of personal rights and activities. He has a personal website at http://www.ericfoner.com.
Jones, Maldwyn A. The Limits of Liberty: American History 1607-1992
Jones has become the standard history of the US in US civilization courses in the English department at Université Jean-Moulin - Lyon 3.
Electronic Sources
The Internet has become an incomparably rich source of information and material. Here are some sites I have come across in my wanderings, and that I recommend:
- Freedom (as a philosophical concept)
- Stanford University's Encyclopedia of Philosophy can be of use here. (Search for terms such as "freedom", "Isaiah Berlin", "Milton", "Mill", etc.)
- US history & institutions
- The United States Library of Congress has huge collections on just about every imaginable topic, including US history, of course. A starting point is the "Today in history" page, which, as its name suggests, changes every day. It provides innumerable links to sources about the various events that happen to have come about on whatever day it is...
- The United States National Archives
- Music history
- The Smithsonian Institution's Project on Jazz, called America's Jazz Heritage
- Several Wikipedia articles including American Styles of Music, Blues, and Jazz. (Wikipedia is a free Internet encyclopedia that readers can contribute to. As you will see when you click on the link here, each day opens on a different article, which may serve as a starting point for interesting research...)
- A web-site called The Art of the States, that gives visitors an opportunity to listen to examples of American music.
An astonishing number of resources can be found by searching in Google on "freedom" or "liberty", and Wikipedia, as always, has a number of interesting articles. Some of these latter are good examples of the Wikipedia mind-set, in that they illustrate the collaborative nature of the site, in which discussion about the value and neutrality of the articles are lively.
Université Jean-Moulin - Lyon 3
Faculté des Langues
Charles C. Hadley 2006-07
This page was last updated on vendredi 26 janvier 2007 at
15:38