Contemporary English Culture - 1st semester
Code
711121004
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Línguas, Culturas e Literaturas Modernas, Secção de Estudos Ingleses e Norte-Americanos
Credits
6
Teacher in charge
Iolanda de Freitas Ramos
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
English
Objectives
a) To introduce students to the main theoretical concepts and analytical practices of the British Cultural Studies, starting with the culture and civilization debate held by anglophone thinkers and intellectuals since the mid-Victorian period.
b) To encourage students to collect information and data on facts, individuals and/or fields of activity which have somehow shaped contemporary British Culture(s).
c) To help students put into practice some notions, ideas and proposals presented at the outset, by applying them, as critically and independently as possible, to their own topics, thereby enhancing their research, analytical and interpretative skills.
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
I. Introductory framework: British culture and cultural studies.
I.1. Cultural theory: the British contribution.
I.2. Historical and cultural context: from Victorianism to post-modernism.
II. Themes and issues: identity stereotypes and cultural trends.
II.1. British institutions and the monarchy: from the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the Windsors.
II.2. Science and technology: from the workshop of the world to the digital revolution.
II.3. The arts, aesthetic movements, visual culture and popular culture: from Pop art to Brit Pop.
II.4. Tradition and subversion: from swinging London to urban subcultures.
III. Final remarks: contemporary British culture and globalisation.
Bibliography
EAGLETON, Terry, The Idea of Culture, Oxford, Blackwell, 2000.
MULHERN, Francis, Culture/Metaculture, London and New York, Routledge, The New Critical Idiom, 2001 (2000).
OAKLAND, John, British Civilization: An Introduction, 6th ed., Abingdon and New York, 2006 (1989).
STORRY, Mike e CHILDS, Peter (eds.), British Cultural Identities, 2nd. ed., London, Routledge, 2002 (1997).
TURNER, Graeme, British Cultural Studies. An Introduction, 2nd. ed., London and New York, Routledge, 1996 (s. l., Unwin Hyman Inc., 1990).
Teaching method
After a few introductory lectures, the course will take a more practical shape through the oral presentation and discussion of the students projects. A short period for comments and debate will be set aside at the end of each class. Suggestions and materials for further reading will be handed out, together with the regular monitoring of the students researches.
In class teaching.
Evaluation method
A short essay (4 pages) written in class (50%)
An oral presentation, individual or otherwise, of a research project (50%)
Although not given any specific percent, regular attendance and participation will act as a basis for positive discrimination between final marks.