Universität Wien
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124260 KO Critical Media Analysis (2024S)

Lives on Screen. 20th- and 21st-Century Biopics

6.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 30 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 11.03. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 18.03. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 08.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 15.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 22.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 29.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 06.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 13.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 27.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 03.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 10.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 17.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 24.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

People are eternally fascinated by other people's life stories, and the urge to record these stories is often considered a basic human need. This course will explore the representation of historical and contemporary lives on the silver screen. The films we will study are The Danish Girl (2015), Belle (2013), Song of Love (1947), I Am Not There (2007), and some biopics of the students' own choosing. The course will also include guest sessions with film scholars Timo Frühwirth (on Hidden Figures, 2016), Emily Poulter (film reviews) and Mina Radovic (on heritage film).
We will take a look at the representation and appropriation of historical lives in the context of contemporary discourses of celebrity, national identity, and gender. Themes that will occupy us throughout include the aesthetics and politics of subject representation and the notion of biographical truth in artistic media, the questions whose lives get told, for what purposes, and in what form.
AIMS:
-- Students will become familiar with a range of biographical motion pictures.
-- They will be able to explain key concerns articulated in these films and contextualize them appropriately with reference to their generic context, to historical sources, and to the wider cultural and political discourses in which they participate. They will be able to apply various critical approaches to biopics, such as biographical theory, cultural memory studies, gender and postcolonial theory; in presentations, discussions and in a short scholarly paper.
-- They will develop a thorough knowledge of concepts and terminology central to the study of film and thus hone their skills in the critical analysis and interpretation of films in general, and biopics in particular.
METHODS:
Class discussions, reading assignments, oral presentations, group work, written assignments, eLearning

Assessment and permitted materials

Active participation (20%; including oral contributions in class & course blog entries)
Group presentation (30%)
Portfolio (50%; consisting of a critical summary of a theoretical text, a film review or critical reflection, and a short academic paper)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Students must fulfill and pass each of the 3 course requirements (group presentation; portfolio; regular attendance and participation - 2 misses max.!) and score at least 60 points altogether in order to pass this course.

Grading scale:
1: 100-90 points
2: 89-80 points
3: 79-70 points
4: 69-60 points
5: 59-0 points

The course requirements will be discussed in detail during the first session.

Examination topics

Assessment will be based on all material discussed in class: primary and secondary literature, theory, and audiovisual material.
This is an interactive course with continuous assessment ("prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung"). There will be no written exam.

Reading list

Extracts from
-- Andrew Dix, Beginning Film Studies, Manchester University Press 2008
-- Belén Vidal, Introduction: The Biopic and its Critical Contexts; The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture, ed. Tom Brown & Belén Vidal, Routledge 2014.
-- Eugenie Theuer, Introduction to "'Mattering Women's Lives on Screen': An Introduction", European Journal of Life Writing, 2021
-- John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism, Manchester UP, 2000
-- Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, Verso 1991
-- Astrid Erll & Ansgar Nünning, eds. Cultural Memory Studies: An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook. Berlin: DeGruyter, 2008.
Further texts will be announced in class.

Association in the course directory

Studium: BA 612, BEd 046/407
Code/Modul: BA07.3; BEd 08a.2, BEd 08b.1
Lehrinhalt: 12-4260

Last modified: Mo 29.04.2024 11:45