Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies II

Course content

Group A - D:
This is the second part of the introduction course. It will continue where the first part adjourned after the winter semester (it does not matter which course you attended) and introduce you to the (historical and contemporary) basics of British and American Cultural Studies. We will look at the concepts, terms and methods that you need for a systematic study of culture(s). Perhaps even more so than literature, “culture” is a volatile concept and term. We will begin with fundamental questions – such as “what is culture?” and “what are cultural studies?” – and the basic terms and tools for discussing cultural products in a variety of genres and media such as film, television, music, radio and comics. We will also discuss how to historicize and contextualize cultural products and how different theoretical approaches yield different readings and results. Lastly, we will continue and elaborate on the practical techniques of scholarly research as well as methodology and theory in general.