Introduction to cultural studies I
Andrew Milner
6 points * 3 hours per week * First semester * Clayton
The study of popular culture has become an area of considerable theoretical interest to analysts of literature, culture and society. This subject will introduce students to different aspects of the contemporary discussion of popular culture and will explore a variety of ways in which mass market cultural products can usefully be discussed. The subject will examine (a) theoretical traditions in the analysis of popular culture; (b) the historical development and social functioning of the mass media; (c) prominent cultural icons which contribute to contemporary popular culture, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Madonna and McDonalds, and the social practices which sustain them; and (d) the spectacle and the public entertainment place from the Colosseum to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. While the general framework will be both comparative and historical, most of the material under discussion will be in some sense `Australian'. Among the recurring motifs in the course will be questions about the place of Australian popular culture in an increasingly international market and the ways in which popular culture offers the means to define ourselves both in and against world society.
Assessment
One essay (2000 words): 40% * One examination (2 hours): 40% * Tutorial work: 20%
Recommended texts
Barthes R The fashion system (tr. M Ward and R Howard) Hill and Wang, 1983
Collins R and others (eds) Media, culture and society: A critical reader Sage, 1986
Craik J The face of fashion Routledge, 1993
Cunningham S and Turner G (eds) The media in Australia: Industries, texts, audiences Allen and Unwin, 1993
Eco U Travels in hyperreality (tr. W Weaver) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986
Goldman R Reading ads socially Routledge, 1992
Gray A and McGuigan J (eds) Studying culture: An introductory reader Edward Arnold, 1993
Grossberg L and others (eds) Cultural studies Routledge, 1992
Modleski T (ed.) Studies in entertainment Indiana UP, 1986
Shields R (ed.) Lifestyle shopping: The subject of consumption Routledge, 1992
Switchenberg C (ed.) The Madonna connection Westview Press, 1993
Tullock J Television drama: Agency, audience and myth Routledge, 1990
Turner G British cultural studies: An introduction Allen and Unwin, 1990
Williams R Television: Technology and cultural form Fontana, 1974
Williamson J Decoding advertisements: Ideology and meaning in advertising Marion Boyars, 1978