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Titel
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Times of War
Times of War: Propaganda, War Poetry, and War Rhetoric
This course focuses on representations of war, propaganda, and war rhetoric, with particular emphasis on the First World War and contemporary American political discourse related to war and military intervention.
Through literary, visual, and rhetorical analysis, we examine how war is communicated, presented, and justified across historical periods and media. And we discuss how political rhetoric is used to justify military action, construct enemies, and reinforce ideological and cultural narratives.
The first part of the course centres on British recruitment campaigns during World War I and on the persuasive strategies used in propaganda. We analyse propaganda posters, recruitment material, songs, and war poetry in order to examine how war, patriotism, masculinity, sacrifice, and national identity are constructed and communicated.
We explore how propaganda seeks to shape public opinion and encourage military participation. Particular attention is given to the contrast between idealised representations of war and the traumatic realities experienced by soldiers.
The course introduces analytical concepts related to propaganda and rhetoric. This includes: persuasive language, emotional appeal, visual symbolism, imagery, stereotyping, enemy construction, nationalism, heroism, and the creation of “us versus them” dichotomies.
Special focus is placed on First World War poetry and on the ways poets both support and challenge dominant narratives of war. Through close reading and literary analysis, we work with themes such as patriotism, disillusionment, masculinity, trauma, sacrifice, death, and the both psychological and physical consequences of warfare.
The course also explores the fascination with war and examines how war may simultaneously be represented as heroic, meaningful, horrifying, and deeply traumatic.
In addition, this course examines contemporary American social and political conditions through work on the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran.
We analyse modern military recruitment campaigns and political speeches in a comparative perspective, drawing connections between historical war rhetoric from World War I and contemporary political communication.
We engage in rhetorical analysis of speeches and public communication from the White House and from Donald Trump related to Iran and military intervention. In this context, we draw on knowledge from year 1 and 2 on American values and national myths, including the frontier heritage and American exceptionalism, as well as rhetorical strategies and persuasive techniques.
Key analytical concepts include: The rhetorical pentagram, modes of appeal (ethos, pathos, logos), rhetorical devices, and argumentative strategies, including straw man arguments, ad baculum, ad hominem, ad populum, hyperbole, and exceptionalism.
We work with the following genres:
War poetry, propaganda posters, songs, speeches, political rhetoric, documentary videos, recruitment campaigns, and film excerpts.
Material:
Background Material
BBC News: “The War to End All Wars”
Propaganda Posters:
From: Hanne Ullerup & Lene Kaaberbøl (eds.), Soldiers Don’t Go Mad. Klim, Aarhus, 2000:
“Daddy, What Did You Do in the Great War?”
“Women of Britain Say GO!”
“Whose Absent? Is it You?”
“Are You in This?”
War Poetry
(All poems from Hanne Ullerup & Lene Kaaberbøl (eds.), Soldiers Don’t Go Mad. Klim, Aarhus, 2000.)
Jessie Pope: The Call
Jessie Pope: War Girls
Lena Guilbert Ford: Keep the Home Fires Burning
Rupert Brooke: The Soldier
Wilfred Owen: Dulce et Decorum Est
Siegfried Sassoon: Glory of Women
Siegfried Sassoon: Suicide in the Trenches
Songs and Film
Keep the Home Fires Burning by Lena Guilbert Ford
Oh! What a Lovely War – “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” excerpt
Youtubevideos from the Imperial War Museums:
“How did WW1 Start? | Causes of the First World War”
“Life in the Trenches”
“Did WW1 Really Promote Women’s Rights?”
Speeches and Political Communication
Donald Trump: “Address to the Nation after the Iran Strikes” (Operation Midnight Hammer), 21 June 2025
Donald Trump: “President Trump Announces Iran Attack”, 28 February 2026
Donald Trump: “President Trump Attends a Medal of Honor Ceremony at the White House”, 2 March 2026
Posts on Truth Social and X related to Iran and military intervention, especially March 2026
Recruitment Videos
US Army Recruitment Video
Swedish Military Recruitment Video
Grammatik:
https://gettingstarteda.systime.dk/?id=1
Kapitel 8, 9 og 10
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