Código da Unidade Curricular | Course ID

LAC2.13015

 ECTS | Credits 6


Ciclo de Estudos | Level  1º 

Semestre | Semester  2º


Docente(s) | Instructor(s)

Cecilia Beecher Martins

 Língua de ensino | Language of instruction English


Course description 

The program will begin with a discussion of the concepts that govern the academic discourse surrounding the concepts of culture, ideology and popular culture (Williams & Storey). Students will also learn how to read popular culture objects from a semiotic perspective using the methodologies presented by Pierce and Saussure as well as Hodge’s conception of social semiotics.

While the emphasis of this program will be North American Popular Culture (esp.  USA), from the post WWII era to the early decades of the 21st century, we will begin by looking at the continent’s historic background. We will also look at the factors that permitted the shift from local and folk cultural productions to the development of popular culture endeavours with a global impact.

Working principally with popular literature, comic books & graphic novels as well as cinema and TV series, students will be invited to question how popular culture objects influence personal and collective narratives in a post-modern world.

 

Grading and Assessment

While the CU will be taught in English, all written evaluations may be presented in English or Portuguese

2 Written Tests: 70% (35x2)

Oral Presentation: 15%

Class Participation: 15%  

The oral presentations will be based on students’ individual reading and analysis of one of the popular novels or the graphic novel sets presented below. Students may also reflect on how themes presented in the selected book(s) are maintained or altered in adaptations for cinema and TV.

The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925).

To Kill a Mocking Bird (Harper Lee,1960).

Hillbilly Elegy (J.D. Vance, 2016).

Batman, The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller, 1986).

Maus, A Survivor’s Tale (Art Spiegelman, 1986).

 

Bibliografia (selection) | Readings (selection)

Bigsby, Christopher (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture. CUP. 2007.

Isenberg, Nancy White Trash. Atlantic Books. 2017.

Maasik, Sonia, and Jack Solomon (eds.) Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, Ninth Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2018. 

Miller, Toby (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Global Culture. Routledge. 2015. 

Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction 7th Ed. Routledge. 2015.