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Popular Culture and Its Politics
DozentIn: Jatin Wagle
Veranstaltungstyp: Seminar
Ort: 41/218: Mo. 14:00 - 16:00 (12x), 41/215: Mo. 14:00 - 16:00 (2x)
Zeiten: Mo. 14:00 - 16:00 (wöchentlich), Ort: 41/218, 41/215
Beschreibung: Is “popular culture” simply consumed by “the people,” or is it also made by them? What are the grounds of its purported popularity? Is it democratic or populist? This course in English and American Studies attempts to engage with such questions relating to the politics of popular culture. It also seeks to explore the intellectual and political project of Cultural Studies, which from its beginnings in the 1960s has focused on the everyday nature of culture, its materiality and its symbolic practices, and over the last half century, challenged the traditional Humanities’ understanding of culture as the arena of “sweetness and light” (Matthew Arnold).
In this seminar, we will look at the many ways in which industrial and postindustrial culture has been interpreted and theorized, for instance, as mass culture, culture industry [_Kulturindustrie_], culture of consumption, etc. During this process, we will also get acquainted with a range of theoretical approaches that aid critical examination of the commodities and practices of modern mass media, such as cultural materialism, Marxism, feminism, semiotics, and gender studies.
In order to take and enjoy this class, you should be willing to read, analyze, and discuss theoretical and analytical texts. Please note that this course can only be taken as a Cultural Studies [_Kulturwissenschaft_] course and is not being offered under Literary Studies. Moreover, this seminar is recommended for fourth and fifth semester students of English and American Studies, since it builds upon students’ awareness and understanding of the basic tools and concepts of cultural studies.
