LMKA_a04 Theory of Culture

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Miroslav Kotásek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Stanislava Fedrová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Miroslav Kotásek, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Eva Zachová
Supplier department: Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 14:00–15:40 B2.34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course seeks to accomplish several goals. Firstly, it is the task of problematizing the term “culture” by demonstrating its contingency on history, its variability; and by noting the limitations that are caused by the all-encompassing concept of culture as it is postulated by the field of cultural studies. The methodological foundation of the course is the notion that from the viewpoint of “culture,” there are no longer any formal or structural methods sufficient to study cultural phenomena. The lectures will show the possible means of analysing and interpreting artefacts with regard to their integration in the social situation of the given period, their classification as belonging to a certain type of discourse; as well as “culture’s” further ideological use of the artefacts (censorship, canon). The lectures also aim to impress upon the students that it is necessary to investigate the underlying determinative conditions of each artefact – such as the choice of medium (analogue v. digital) – as well as the consequences of the differences between e.g. the haptic and the visual. The lectures share the methodology of the courses Modern Literature in European Culture and Media Context I and II; they elaborate on the topics of the preceding courses and provide broader context.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
- analyse cultural phenomena based on their ideological content,
- interpret artefacts with regard to the medium used,
- articulate the specifics and the changes in the functioning of culture in the last 150 years,
- use the methodology of cultural studies in further independent work - place cultural phenomena within social context.
Syllabus
  • The term “culture” and its changes – classical heritage and Europe, second nature, culture industry
  • Culture according to cultural studies: culture as an all-encompassing phenomenon; the limitations of this approach
  • Culture and post-modernism: problematising aesthetic value, cultural logics of late capitalism
  • The politics of culture (discourse, hegemony, ideology)
  • Cultural politics (censorship, canon)
  • Authenticity in culture (counterculture, subcultures)
  • Cultural identity (national v. global culture), culture in public space
  • Popular culture and cultural hybridity (adaptation, comics, remake)
  • Haptics
  • Visuality
  • Medium and mediality of culture, new media, digitalization
  • Unconscious cultural content – potential to psychoanalyse culture (Slavoj Žižek)
Literature
    required literature
  • PIORECKÁ, Kateřina. Psaní na dotek : materialita textu a proces psaní v české literární kultuře 1885-1989. Vydání 1. Praha: Academia, 2016, 351 stran. ISBN 9788020026163. info
  • MAREK, Jaroslav. Česká moderní kultura. Vydání první. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1998, 335 stran. ISBN 8020406743. info
  • MACURA, Vladimír. Znamení zrodu :české národní obrození jako kulturní typ. 2., rozšíř. vyd., v H&H 1. Jinočany: H & H, 1995, 264 s., [8. ISBN 80-85787-74-1. info
  • MCLUHAN, Marshall. Jak rozumět médiím : extenze člověka. Edited by Jaroslav Střítecký, Translated by Miloš Calda. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1991, 348 s. ISBN 8020702962. info
    recommended literature
  • JAMESON, Fredric. Postmodernismus, neboli, Kulturní logika pozdního kapitalismu. Translated by Olga Sixtová - Josef Šebek. Vydání první. Praha: Rybka Publishers, 2016, 535 stran. ISBN 9788087950272. info
  • ŽIŽEK, Slavoj. Lacrimae rerum : Kieślowski, Hitchcock, Tarkovskij, Lynch. Translated by Radovan Baroš. 1. vydání. Praha: NAMU, 2015, 286 stran. ISBN 9788073313197. info
  • KYLOUŠEK, Petr and Petr DYTRT. Pierre BOURDIEU, Pravidla umění. Vznik a struktura literárního pole (Les Regles de l'Art. Genese et structure du champ littéraire) (Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field). Překladatelé. 1. vyd. Brno: Host, 2011, 496 pp. Teoretická knihovna, č. 27. ISBN 978-80-7294-364-7. URL info
  • ŽIŽEK, Slavoj. The plague of fantasies. London: Verso, 2008, xxiv, 320. ISBN 9781844673032. info
  • KLEIN, Naomi. Bez loga. Translated by Pavel Kaas. 1. vyd. Praha: Argo, 2005, xxiii, 510. ISBN 8073630109. info
  • MANOVICH, Lev. The language of new media. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000, xxxix, 354. ISBN 0-262-63255-1. info
  • HEBDIGE, Dick. Subculture. The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge, 1991, 208 pp. Vyd. 2. ISBN 0-415-03949. info
  • BOURDIEU, Pierre. Photography, a middle-brow art. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990, ix, 218. ISBN 0745617158. info
    not specified
  • BOURDIEU, Pierre. Co se chce říct mluvením : ekonomie jazykové směny. Translated by Martin Pokorný. 1. české vyd. V Praze: Karolinum, 2014, 168 s. ISBN 9788024625706. info
  • JAMESON, Fredric. The political unconscious : narrative as a socially symbolic act. London: Routledge, 2002, xiv, 296. ISBN 0415287502. info
Teaching methods
The lectures include commentary, analysis, and instructive interpretation that demonstrate the theory and methodology discussed.
Assessment methods
Written test (roughly 10 questions).
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 0.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
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