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Mediterranean Fantasies: Revivals and Utopias, 1919-1939 (V4157)

30 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

Many avant-garde artists in Europe turned to classicist aesthetics and ideals in order to overcome the shocks and traumas that followed WWI. What can this ‘return to order’ in art tell us about the colonial re-organisation and the cultural anxieties of the period between the two world wars?

In this module you will study the role of the Mediterranean in art and visual culture between the two world wars (1919-1939). You will focus on how representations of Mediterranean antiquities are intertwined with political relations across Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Near East.

You’ll examine diverse figures and movements such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico and Chana Olroff. You’ll also engage with the growing body of literature on Turkish and North African modernism, studying artists such as Cemal Tollu, Hale Asaf and Azouaou Mammeri.

You will learn how to question the colour of the dominant narrative of European modernism. You’ll take into account the questions posed by critical race, decolonial and postcolonial theory to rethink the canon of modern art.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.