Transnational Media and Culture

                              Spring 2021 Wednesday 8:00 AM MS Teams


Lecturer: Tae-Sik Kim, PhD

Office Hour: Wed 14:00 – 16:00 & Wed 13:00 – 14:00

Contact Information: beinkid@mail.muni.cz  Office Number: 5. 50


Ø Course Objectives

This course examines transnational contexts stemming from the globalized political-economy system
that has facilitated the global mobility of people. The first part of the course is focused on
early understandings of national community and its internationalization. The second part of the
course covers recent theoretical perspectives on transnational media. The third part of the course
is focused on cases highlighting the logic of transnational media and communication. By reading a
variety of research articles assigned in the course and participating in class discussions,
students learn to develop their own research projects focusing on recent socio-cultural changes
affected by the transnationalization of media and communication practices.


·         Comprehend multiple theories of transnational communication.

§  Understand our world as the main context of new transnational communication research

§  Review and analyze a variety of research articles on transnational communication.

§  Build professional experiences by conducting relevant case studies

§  Develop a research project by applying sociocultural experiences.


Ø Syllabus

Week 1. Course introduction

Week 2. Inter-Culture, Cross-Culture, and Transnational Culture

Week 3. (pre-trans) National Community

Week 4. Cultural Imperialism

Week 5. Migration: Globalization, Transnationalism, Flexible Citizenship

Week 6. Reflexive Cultural Proximity: A Case of Vietnamese in the Czech Republic

Week 7. Cultural Hybridity

Week 8. Asian Transnational Media: Anime, K-Pop, and Bollywood

Week 9. (Transnational) Social Media for Privileged People (Short Essay Due 29. 4. 2020)

Week 10. Midterm Examination

Week 11. Research Preparation (Individual Consultations)

Week 12. Transnational Europe vs European Community

Week 13. Class Conference


Ø Literatures

Reading Articles: See, below.


Ø Teaching Methods

The format of the course is a combination of brief lectures and controlled discussions of various
assigned readings.

All students are expected to read all articles assigned and to develop appropriate discussion
questions. Each student is a discussion leader for an assigned week.

Student should submit a research paper (topic of student’s choice in consultation with instructor;
minimum 15 pages including references, figures, and tables).


Ø Assessment Methods


v  ATTENDANCE: 3 unexcused absences during a semester shall be denied academic credit (10%)


v  Short Essay on Selected Movies (20%)

ü  Bend it Like Beckham

ü  Planet B-Boy

ü  Mulan 2020

ü Due: 10. 5. 2021 No Late Paper Accepted

v  Midterm Examination (30%):

v  Class Discussion Leader (10%)

v  Research Paper (30%): Due- Midnight, Monday 28. June. 2021 (Late Paper – Subtract 5% for each
day after the due date)

Total: 1000  A: 900-1000  B: 800-899   C: 700-799   D: 600-699   E: 500-599   F:       -499


Ø Study Materials

Week 2. Inter-Culture, Cross-Culture, and Transnational Culture

·         Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied
psychology, 46(1), 5-34.

·         Kim, Y. Y. (2008). Intercultural personhood: Globalization and a way of being.
International journal of intercultural relations, 32(4), 359-368.


Week 3. (pre-trans)National Community

·         Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of
nationalism. Verso Books. CHAPTER Introduction, 1, 2, and 3.


Week 4. Cultural Imperialism

·         Rowe, J. C. (2007). Culture, US Imperialism, and Globalization. Exceptional state:
contemporary US culture and the new imperialism, 37-59.


Week 5. Migration: Globalization, Transnationalism, Flexible Citizenship

·         Ong, A. (1999). Flexible citizenship: The cultural logics of transnationality. Duke
University Press. (INTRODUCTION)

·         Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy. Theory,
culture & society, 7(2-3), 295-310.


Week 6. Reflexive Cultural Proximity

·         Georgiou, M. (2012). Watching soap opera in the diaspora: cultural proximity or critical
proximity?. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(5), 868-887.

·         Kim, T. (in press). Reflexive Cultural Proximity: The Case of Young Vietnamese
Korean-Media Audiences in the Czech Republic, Journal of Intercultural Studies

Week 7. Cultural Hybridity

·         Kraidy, M. M. (2002). Hybridity in cultural globalization. Communication Theory,12(3),
316-339.



Week 8. Asian Transnational Media: Anime & K-Pop

·         Pellitteri, M. (2021). The European experience with Japanese animation, and what it can
reveal about the transnational appeal of anime. Asian Journal of Communication, 31(1), 21-42.

·         Han, B. (2017). Korean Wave| K-Pop in Latin America: Transcultural Fandom and Digital
Mediation. International Journal of Communication, 11, 20.

Week 9. Privileged (Transnational) Social Media

·         Polson, E, (2016). Privileged Mobilities. Peter Lang. P1-52

Week 12. Transnational Europe

·         Georgiou, M. (2005). Diasporic media across Europe: multicultural societies and the
universalism–particularism continuum. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 31(3), 481-498.

·         Lentin, A., & Titley, G. (2012). The crisis of ‘multiculturalism’in Europe: Mediated
minarets, intolerable subjects. European Journal of Cultural Studies,15(2), 123-138.