6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL
Undergraduate - Unit
Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.
Faculty
Coordinator(s)
Not offered in 2017
Notes
Students need to contact the Arts Student ServicesArts Student Services (http://future.arts.monash.edu/contact-arts/) desk to enrol in the unit.
Synopsis
This unit approaches the study of popular narrative afresh by uncovering some ideas about popular culture - genre, mass culture, escapism, representation - that continue to limit and predetermine the analysis of popular texts. By considering how these ideas have come to inform our everyday responses to popular texts, the unit explores strategies for reading such texts in ways that challenge the critical imperative driving many analyses of popular fiction and film. Thus, the unit develops new protocols for thinking and writing about popular texts in academic, journalistic and everyday contexts. Access to on-line facilities is essential for students studying in off-campus mode.
Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will have:
- an understanding how popular texts mediate cultural understanding and activity
- a capacity to recognise how contemporary reviews of popular fiction and film are often limited by a particular history of ideas about popular culture
- an ability to appreciate different uses and interpretations of popular texts
- an ability to explore innovative ways of engaging with popular culture
- skills in deploy such alternative reading protocols within popular sites of cultural criticism, particularly through the popular practices of art criticism and review writing.
Assessment
Within semester assessment: 100%
Workload requirements
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
See also Unit timetable information
Chief examiner(s)
This unit applies to the following area(s) of study
Prerequisites
Completion of 36 points in any discipline
Prohibitions
ATS2497, ENH2404, ENH3404, WRT2404, WRT3404