2016 Ü Key Concepts in Cultural Studies

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    PLEASE NOTE: THIS PAGE IS CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED.

Please note: The ang070 module consists of

  • a seminar ("S/Ü: Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature", offered in the previous winter term),
  • a tutorial ("TUT: Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature", offered in the previous winter term),
  • a (biweekly) lecture ("Historical Backgrounds and Critcal Concepts", offered this term) and
  • a seminar ("Key Concepts of Cultural Studies", offered this term).

If you have already completed parts, but not the entire Basismodul in literary and/or cultural studies in previous semesters, please contact Michaela Koch.

On this page you will find detailed information on the lecture "Historical Backgrounds and Critical Concepts" and on the courses "Key Concepts in Cultural Studies".

Lecture: VL Historical Backgrounds and Critical Concepts

Courses: S/Ü Key Concepts in Cultural Studies

Both the lecture and the courses are part of the Basismodul ang070 and focus on key concepts in cultural studies and techniques of textual analysis in the context of discussing culture. The VL/Ü Key Concepts of Cultural Studies consists of 6 lectures on "Historical Backgrounds and Critical Concepts" and 13 courses/Übungen on "Key Concepts of Cultural Studies".

The Übung analyzes material and is relying on concepts and approaches complemented by the lectures. The analysis of the material from a cultural studies perspective is based on three guiding questions:

  • 1. What are the specific and medial characteristics of the Material? (See Handouts: Conceptual Tools)
  • 2. How is the material situated and what institutions are responsible for its existence and discussion?
  • 3. What function and effect for identity formation can the material have?

Please make sure that you are registered for the lecture and ONE of the courses in Stud.IP and open a wiki account which will enable you to participate in online discussions.

The texts for our courses will come from a common pool, though each course may have a different choice.

The "analytical tools" will be presented by the lecturers (on a handout) in each meeting. The additional reading from which these 'tools' are taken is not obligatory, and it can be done either before or after each session. Mandatory texts and other materials will be made accessible to you electronically (cf. the links below). In addition you will need to purchase the following works: 

   Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York and London: Norton, 2001. Print.

   Spiegelman, Art. In the Shadow of No Towers. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.

   Fight Club. 1999. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. 20th Century Fox, 2013. DVD.

Course Work: You will be asked to complete a Written Test (Date: Saturday, July 18, 2015, 10:00-12:00, A14 Hörsaal 1 und 2), and produce a Research Paper Outline (2 pages, due on Aug 15). For the Research Paper Outline you will need to find your own topic to work on and document the preliminary work (this includes finding an appropriate title, writing a paragraph on the state of the art of your problem and one that describes your problem and your goal, and presenting a tentative table of contents as well as a short bibliography). The RPO is to be formatted according to the style sheet.

Two useful links for all assignments:


Session One, April 16/17: Working With Key Concepts in Cultural Studies I

Welcome

Preliminaries and General Course Information.

Analytical Tools: Culture, Discourse, Media, Identity

Further Reading

Session Two, April 23/24: Working with Key Concepts in Cultural Studies II

Analytical Tools: Culture, Discourse, Media, Identity

Further Reading

Session Three, April 30/May 08: Analyzing Print Media: Slave Narrative I

Primary Material

  • Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Secondary Material


Analytical Tools

Session Four, May 07/May 15: Analyzing Print Media: Slave Narrative II

Primary Material

  • Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Secondary Material

  • Smith, Valerie. "Form and Ideology in Three Slave Narratives." Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1987. 9-43. Reprinted in: Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York: Norton, 2001. 222-36. Print.

Analytical Tools

Session Five, May 21/22: Analyzing Print Media: Slave Narrative III

Primary Material

  • Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Secondary Material

  • Accomando, Christina. "'The Laws Were Laid Down to Me Anew': Harriet Jacobs and the Reframing of Legal Fictions" African American Review 32.2 (1998): 229-44. Reprinted in: Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York: Norton, 2001. 365-85. Print.

Analytical Tools 

    ASSIGNMENT I due May, 28./29.

    Assignment I: Sample solution

Session Six, May 28/29: Analyzing Visual Media: Graphic Novel I

Primary Material

  • Spiegelman, Art. In the Shadow of No Towers. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. Print.

Secondary Material

  • Spiegelman, Art. "Introduction." In the Shadow of No Towers. New York: Pantheon, 2004.

Context Material

Analytical Tools

Session Seven, June 04/05: Analyzing Visual Media: Graphic Novel II

Primary Material

  • Spiegelman, Art. In the Shadow of No Towers. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. Print.

Secondary Material

Analytical Tools

Session Eight, June 11/12: Analyzing Visual Media: Graphic Novel III

Primary Material

  • Spiegelman, Art. In the Shadow of No Towers. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. Print.

Secondary Material

Analytical Tools 

    ASSIGNMENT II due 18./19.06.2015

    ASSIGNMENT II: Sample solution

Session Nine, June 18/19: Analyzing Audiovisual Media: Film I

Primary Material

  • Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. 1999. 20th Century Fox, 2011. DVD.

Secondary Material

Analytical Tools

Session Ten, June 25/26: Analyzing Audiovisual Media: Film II

Primary Material

  • Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. 1999. 20th Century Fox, 2011. DVD.

Secondary Material

Analytical Tools

Session Eleven, July 02/03: Analyzing Audiovisual Media: Film III

Primary Material

  • Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. 1999. 20th Century Fox, 2011. DVD.

Secondary Material

Analytical Tools 

    ASSIGNMENT III

    ASSIGNMENT III: Sample solution

Session Twelve, July 09/10: Presentation and Discussion of RPOs

Skills and Activities

Brief Report on 'Work in Progress': Your Term Paper Projects 

     [BM7 - Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies - Research Paper Outline (due on Aug 15)]

Guidelines for finding your RPO topic:

1. Your RPO topic needs to be related to at least one of the four key concepts: identity, media, discourse, culture
2. As the material basis for your analysis you will need to pick material from the Übungen: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, In the Shadow of No Towers, Breakfast on Pluto

You have access to the scholarly discourse on the material from the Übung through the MLA database.

Session Thirteen, July 16/17: Recap in Preparation for Written Test / Course Evaluation

In preparation for the recap meeting, please review the handouts Conceptual Tools for the Analysis of Graphic Novels and Comics and Conceptual Tools for the Analysis of Film and Key Concepts in Cultural Studies: Culture / Media / Identity / Discourse. 

    WRITTEN TEST: Saturday, July 18, 2015, 10:00-12:00, A14 Hörsaal 1 und 2
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