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Title: Rethinking Genre: Theories, Methods, and the Example of Recent American Popular Cinema
Coordinator: RICHARD NOWELL, PHD. Contact: richard_nowell@hotmail.com Location: 408 Dates: 25.2., 10.3, 24. 3., 7. 4., 21. 4., 5. 5. Time: 12:05 - 14:10 Course Description and Purpose Rethinking Genre invites students to radically re-approach the concept of genre. It aims to do so, by furnishing them with cutting-edge conceptual models and methodological frameworks intended to help illuminate genre’s roles in the production, assembly, distribution, and reception of audiovisual texts. The course builds from the position that the sense of structure underpinning a "first generation" of scholarship on genre was as flawed as a "second generation" turn to polysemy. Instead, students will approach the phenomenon of genre - and by extension individual genres - as characterized by a structured polysemy, i.e. by a bounded range of elements, tendencies, and qualities. While drawing examples from recent American popular cinema, Rethinking Genre emphasizes the extent to which genre is an organizing principle traversing audiovisual culture; everything is in some way generic. The insights gleaned across this course therefore promise to be transferable or adaptable to analyses of other historical junctures, territories, and media. Methods of Instruction Delivered in the English language, Rethinking Genre is an advanced level course intended for students either actively engaged in or thinking about conducting original research on film or other aspects of audiovisual culture. The course is organized into six three-hour seminars, mainly comprising structured discussions and practical exercises. Where the discussion parts of the seminars weigh up the merits, shortcomings, and limitations of important theoretical contributions to the field, exercises are intended to reinforce the practical dimensions of these approaches. Based on multidirectional dialogue and debate, this learning environment demands students who are confident communicating in English and who are committed to working with (and through) sometimes challenging abstract ideas. A background in the study of film and/or other screen media is an essential prerequisite to this course, as is the drive to confront the complex realities of genre’s operations across audiovisual cultures. Course Goals and Student Learning Objectives Rethinking Genre emphasizes the compatibility of genre theory and historical research. And while each seminar centralizes a specific topic under this general rubric, students are encouraged to see these topics as offering complementary tools which can - and at times should - be synthesized within their repertoires of conceptual frameworks and practical skills. By the end of the course, students will be expected to demonstrate a solid understanding of all of the topics listed below and to produce a theoretically-sound and empirically-researched paper showcasing some of them: • how genre might be conceptualized generally • how and why perceptions of specific genres might differ and change somewhat • how and why trends form across output; why they emerge, develop, and decline • how and why perceptions of genre(s) influence the assembly and content of media texts • how and why perceptions of genre(s) operate in marketing campaigns and materials • how and why conceptions of genre shape the repackaging of certain types of text Poslední úprava: Svatoňová Kateřina, prof. PhDr., Ph.D. (11.02.2016)
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Texts and Resources As they are expected actively to contribute to seminar discussions, students are required to study the set readings before class. All readings will be available in PDF form to download from the course webpage before the start of the course. Students are advised to bring hard copies of the relevant readings to class, as the use of electronic devices is not permitted except during exercises. Any films to be viewed in preparation for this class will be made available to students in timely fashion.
Assessment Rethinking Genre is presaged on the notion that theoretically informed perspectives on genre can be practically applied to the study of audiovisual culture, thereby promising to help us shed new light on the production, content, dissemination, and reception of films and other media. Put differently, this course is geared to facilitating the production of cutting-edge research. Students will therefore work toward a research paper of 4,000 words, applying the frameworks and methods examined across the course to their own original research to a genre of their choosing. The case studies centralized in these papers may either focus on a hitherto neglected media genre or radically revise understandings of a genre that has been the subject of scholarly or popular attention. In so doing, students will work towards the production of a genuine contribution to the discipline. Students should submit a proposal in writing at time to be announced spotlighting their research question(s), their methods, and a research plan. Time will provided at the end of the course for students to complete their research and write up this essay.
Research Paper Proposal Students will initially write a proposal of their project. If necessary, this document will be revised until a topic relevant, intellectually viable, and ultimately manageable project has been devised. The green-lighting of this proposal is a mandatory precondition of submitting the research paper upon which this course is assessed. Failure punctually to submit such a document or to formulate an appropriate project will result in a student failing the course. Naturally, minor deviations from the proposal are a perfectly normal part of researching and writing such a paper; the proposal should therefore be seen by all involved as a general roadmap, with no student duty-bound to stick religiously thereto. A final version of the proposal will be formally submitted after the seminars end, again as a precondition of submitting the research paper.
Grading/Evaluation: Grades from 1-4 will be awarded based on the following criteria:
Draft Research Paper Proposal Deadline: TBC
Formal Research Paper Proposal Deadline: TBC
Research Paper Deadline: TBC
All Essays are to be submitted in PDF or word format to richard_nowell@hotmail.com. Students should include their name and the course title in the name of the files they send.
Penalties for Late Submission of Work Up to 24 hours after the due date - 5 marks out of 100 deducted Between 24 hours and seven days following the due to date - 10 marks out of 100 deducted Between seven and thirteen days following the due date - 20 marks out of 100 deducted After the 14th day following the due date - all marks deducted
One-on-One Tutorials Students are invited to arrange one-on-one tutorials to discuss assignments and/or any issues arising from the course. Meetings can be arranged by email and can take place at a location and time of mutual convenience.
Feedback Students will be emailed with detailed feedback on their papers. Feedback is designed to be constructive. It will therefore spotlight the paper’s strengths and shortcomings, and offer transferable advice on how the paper might have been improved. Poslední úprava: Svatoňová Kateřina, prof. PhDr., Ph.D. (11.02.2016)
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Texts and Resources As they are expected actively to contribute to seminar discussions, students are required to study the set readings before class. All readings will be available in PDF form to download from the course webpage before the start of the course. Students are advised to bring hard copies of the relevant readings to class, as the use of electronic devices is not permitted except during exercises. Any films to be viewed in preparation for this class will be made available to students in timely fashion.
Poslední úprava: Svatoňová Kateřina, prof. PhDr., Ph.D. (11.02.2016)
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