Cirrus@Austlit

NB: Information in this Unit Outline is subject to change prior to commencement of semester

The unit seeks to give you a basis for considering the ways in which cultural productions take place. Given the increasing discussion of importance of popular culture in contemporary society, the unit addresses the sites of such discussions and the changing status of popular culture.

Aims

This unit aims to provide you with an understanding of the term 'popular culture' and to consider a range of cultural productions that have engaged with this term. You will consider a range of popular culture theories and a number of texts in relation to those ideas. You will gain an understanding of the position of popular culture within cultural studies discourse.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you would be able to:

1. recognise the theoretical language of popular culture studies

2. deploy some theoretical ideas in relation to popular culture texts

3. appreciate the wide ranging production of popular culture and the influence on contemporary cultural formations.

Content

You will consider a range of texts and genres in this unit. The unit begins with the comic format and includes travel, crime, romance, and cross-generic forms. The unit acknowledges the re-visiting of earlier cultural practices (mythology/medievalism in Tolkien).