This thematic seminar complements the Modern World History lecture series by exploring modern history before 1945 through the lens of everyday life. It shifts focus from traditional narratives of power and diplomacy to the lived experiences of ordinary people—peasants, workers, rank-and-file soldiers, and women— whose lives were shaped by, and in turn shaped, revolutions, wars, and ideological transformations. The course is structured in three thematic parts. The first, The Longue Durée of Everyday Lives, considers the persistent structures and rhythms of peasant and working-class life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It draws on Patrick Joyce’s Remembering Peasants. The second part, Everyday Lives in War, shifts focus to the First World War and its disruptive effects on gender and identity through Jiří Hutečka’s Man under Fire. The final section, Shades of Everyday Life in the Interwar Period, investigates the social and psychological landscapes of Soviet, fascist, and post-imperial societies in the 1930s. Sheila Fitzpatrick’s Everyday Stalinism serves as the core text. Throughout the semester, students will be encouraged to reflect on how grand historical processes were mediated through mundane, affective, and embodied experiences. Weekly discussions will centre on close readings of assigned texts, with student presentations further contextualizing key themes and introducing supplementary memoirs and journalistic accounts that illuminate the complexity of life in both tumultuous and uneventful times.
- Teacher: Johana Kłusek