Intendierte Lernergebnisse
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Inhalt/e
Course DescriptionThis course is an advanced introduction to debates on culture, media and society in various national, international and transnational contexts. It will promote a deeper understanding of specific patterns of cultural production and reception in countries and societies beyond the “relatively unrepresentative nations as Britain and the US” (Downing, 1996) which can no longer serve as the only valid pattern and model for analysing cultural and media history and currents (Curran & Park, 2000). At the beginning of the course we shall review the key critical debates in cultural theory with a particular attention to the development and impact of the British cultural studies tradition (Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1964-2002). The purpose of this review is to rethink the conceptual apparatus of mainstream cultural studies and test its suitability for the analysis of cultural production, distribution and reception in a variety of non-western socio-political contexts during the Cold War. Attention will also be given to the de-centralisation and privatisation of culture in post-communist Europe. The course will make references to examples from two specific areas of cultural industries, i.e. film and book publishing. The aim is to achieve broader understanding of how various cultural formats work away from the traditional West vs rest dichotomy. This effort will require a fresh focus on concepts such as censorship, exile, propaganda, resistance, underground, dissent, identity and repression, as well as theoretical and analytical engagement with most recent modes of cultural production and agencies and their transformation (media archaeology and ecology, e-book, e-piracy, AI, cultural production and reception in the pandemic era, etc.).Course Requirements:Participation in class discussion will constitute 30% of your final grade.Group presentation (15 – 20 mins) which will address a selected topic of the course content will constitute further 30% of the final grade. Format and content of the presentation will be discussed during the first meeting of the course.Final essay of 10 pages (doubled-spaced, typed, 12-point font) on a selected topic is worth 40% of your grade. The list of topics, and formal characteristics of the essay will be discussed during the first meeting of the course. The essay must be submitted by email to jirina.smejkalova@gmail.comThere will be no midterm or final exam.References to reading materials and all relevant audio-visual resources will be provided during the course.