LMKA_a04 Theory of Culture

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Miroslav Kotásek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Stanislava Fedrová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Petr Bubeníček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Petr Bubeníček, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Veronika Bromová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:40 B2.52, except Mon 18. 11. to Sun 24. 11.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(ND)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 26/30, only registered: 1/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
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
  • 20. 9. Introduction: the term "culture" and its mutability
  • 27. 9. Culture as seen by cultural studies: plus and cons
  • 4. 10. Culture and the Postmodern: the cultural logic of late capitalism and/or "postproduction" phase of Western culture
  • 11. 10. Politics of culture (discours, hegemony, ideology)
  • 18. 10. Cultural politics (censorship, canon)
  • 25. 10. Authenticity in culture (counter-culture, subculture)
  • 1. 11. Popular culture and how to read it
  • 8. 11. Media and mediality of culture: new media, digitisation, artificial intelligence
  • 15. 11. Reading Wednesday
  • 23. 11. Un/sub conscious in culture – possibilities of psychoanalysing culture(s)
  • 29. 11. Visual culture theory (dr. Stanislava Fedrová)
  • 6. 12. Historicity of visual culture (dr. Stanislava Fedrová)
  • 14. 12. Pictures read (see) pictures / Pictures see (read) us
  • 20. 12. In margine, bagatelles, fragments
Literature
    required literature
  • BELTING, Hans. Antropologie obrazu : návrhy vědy o obrazu. Translated by Iva Kratochvílová. 1. vydání. Brno: Books & Pipes, 2021, 278 stran. ISBN 9788074852503. 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
  • 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
  • ŽIŽEK, Slavoj. Lacrimae rerum : Kieślowski, Hitchcock, Tarkovskij, Lynch. Translated by Radovan Baroš. 1. vydání. Praha: NAMU, 2015, 286 stran. ISBN 9788073313197. info
  • 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
  • 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
  • BARTHES, Roland. Mytologie. Translated by Josef Fulka. 1. vyd. v českém jazyce. Praha: Dokořán, 2004, 170 s. ISBN 808656973X. info
  • MANOVICH, Lev. The language of new media. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000, xxxix, 354. ISBN 0-262-63255-1. 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
  • 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
Teaching methods
The lectures include commentary, analysis, and instructive interpretation that demonstrate the theory.
Assessment methods
Written exam based on the required semester reading and the lectures.
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 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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