124265 KO Critical Media Analysis (2011W)
Looking at texts, reading images: Critical reading practices before and after the 'visual turn'
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
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).
- Registration is open from Fr 16.09.2011 00:00 to Su 25.09.2011 23:59
- Registration is open from Th 29.09.2011 14:00 to Tu 04.10.2011 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Mo 31.10.2011 23:59
Details
max. 30 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Monday
10.10.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
17.10.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
24.10.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
31.10.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
07.11.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
14.11.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
21.11.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
28.11.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
05.12.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
12.12.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
09.01.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
16.01.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
23.01.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Monday
30.01.
08:00 - 10:00
Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
Regular attendance, completion of required readings, class participation, on- and offline activities, folder (or short portfolio), class presentations, short research project.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
By exploring a variety of examples, we will put the different critical tools to practice to see 'how they work', or rather, how we can (and cannot) make them 'work.' One central goal will therefore be to know about and be able to 'apply'; a variety of different methods and tools in order to analyze visual media productions. As our theoretical framework will show, however, none of these 'tools'; is objective or neutral in terms of its ideology. Therefore, while the practical component will take center stage in the course, we will try to gain an insight into questions such as these: What 'happens to' cultural practices when we look at them through the lenses of the linguistic and visual turns? What changes in our critical analysis and assessment when we shift our focus in terms of the theories and tools mentioned above? And equally important, in each case, what can we not say about the respective media text depending on our choice of approach, i.e. what is left out of the analysis, why, and which effects does this have?
Examination topics
This course will be as interactive as reasonably possible. Presentations, readings, class participation and class, discussion, group projects, folder (or short portfolio), eLearning (Moodle).
Reading list
Will be made available via the eLearning platform (Moodle).
Association in the course directory
Studium: Diplom 343, UF 344, BA 612
Code/Modul: Diplom 426/428, 436/438, 526/528, 536/538, 721-723, UF 4.2.5-426, BA07.3
Lehrinhalt: 12-4260
Code/Modul: Diplom 426/428, 436/438, 526/528, 536/538, 721-723, UF 4.2.5-426, BA07.3
Lehrinhalt: 12-4260
Last modified: We 09.09.2020 00:22
We will try to embed practical approaches and concrete analyses within an outline of the historical development of such tools from the 20th to the 21st century. To do so, the notions of 'reading' and 'seeing' and how they overlap and interact but also differ will constitute our framework. In the last century, the 'linguistic turn' -- in its broadest sense, the discovery the cultural and social questions can be investigated through the metaphor of language, that cultural and social processes are structured like language -- brought to the critical study of culture the notion of 'cultural texts' and a concomitant focus on 'representation', identity and difference, and on gender, sex, race, ethnicity, class, age etc. as factors that make a difference in how media are consumed, interpreted, or: 'read.' Signifiers and signifieds, icons, indexes, symbols, metaphors and metonymies, denotation and connotation are among the concepts that were elaborated to analyze visual media, along with notions taken up from e.g. literary studies such as genre or narrative; via semiotics, structuralism and post-structuralism, their use was adapted esp. to film as the key visual medium. Late in the 20th century, the 'visual turn' signalled both an extension and located at and beyond the margin of the linguistic turn, as the underlying theories and the corresponding practical tools of analysis were adapted to a culture and media landscape that was becoming ever more visual. Which cultural vision and visuality taking a central place on the contemporary cultural studies agenda, the emphasis on visual aesthetics and sensuality of perception interrogates the usefulness of some of the linguistic metaphors while reconfirming the usefulness and adequateness of others, as well as adding concepts more or less specific to visual culture such as the 'spectator' or 'observer', or the 'Male) gaze.' Some of the current issues we are facing can be summarized in questions such as, "How is seeing (not quite) the same as reading?"Or: "How do we make 'meaning' from visual media -- if we 'make meaning' at all?"