124183 VK BEd 08b.3: VK Cultural Studies for Language Teachers (2022S)

Commander James Bond was born in the early 1950s and is still going strong in the 21st century. In late September 2021 the latest Bond movie, No Time to Die, was released in cinemas around the world. "James Bond" has become a popular cultural icon and has acquired many meanings depending on perspective, time and context. Here is one such meaning from 2022: Caitlin Moran in The Times (14.1.2022) called Bond “a boozy, shagging, homophobic, sexist, borderline rapist obsessed with sports cars, the British Empire and fanny”. This is one side of the story; in this class we will look at other sides also. From the early days in the late 1950s and early 1960s Bond has been an academic topic and has since then been analysed utilising a variety of approaches and methodologies. We will read articles or sections from books with a focus on the analysis of Bond the movies, but we will also briefly consider Ian Fleming’s stories and novels. A strong focus will be on filmic representation in the context of Bond movies, and we will work on audio-visual media from both a receptive and a productive angle.