Prerequisits

There are no specific prerequisites for participating in this course and completing its requirements. However, prior knowledge of basic theories of popular culture, history, and cultural studies is recommended, as it will facilitate understanding of the topics discussed and enable active participation in discussions and practical tasks. Students should be prepared to analyse complex texts and engage in research activities.

Content (syllabus outline)

Why is popular culture often dismissed as trivia, condemned as propaganda and a tool of mass deception? In which ways popular culture contributes to the rethinking the dominant approaches in historiography and history-memory relation? As a field that has, since its inception, been centrally concerned with the relationship between culture and power, popular culture studies module offers unique perspectives to contemporary life. This course provides students with:

1) What is popular culture, and why do we study it?

2) Cultural and critical theory:

• Raymond Williams: “The analyses of culture”,
• Stuart Hall and Paddy Whannel: Popular arts.

3) Theorising popular culture:

• Marxism,
• The Frankfurt school,
• Postmodernism,
• Introduction to Semiotics,
• Feminist theory,
• Post-Marxism and Cultural studies.

4) Popular culture, subjectivity and identity:

• Race and ethnicity,
• Gender and sexuality,
• Sexuality and the body.

5) Popular culture, hegemony and cultural imperialism:

• Subcultures and countercultures.

6) Genre theory:

• Literature,
• Music,
• TV.

7) Popular culture in socialist Central and Southeastern Europe

• Popular culture in postsocialist societies,
• focus on former Yugoslavia.

Readings

• Adorno, Theodor. 1991. The culture industry. London: Routledge.
• Appadurai, Arjun. 2007. “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.” V: Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works. Meenakshi Durham in Douglas Kellner, ur. Malden Mass: Blackwell, 584–603.
• Bennett, Andy. 2005. Culture and everyday life. London: SAGE.
• Berger, Arthur Asa. 1992. Popular Culture Genres: Theories and Texts. Newbury Park: Sage.
• Bourdieu, Pierre. 1993. The Field of Cultural Production. Cambridge: Polity P.
• Day, Gary, ur. 1990. Readings in Popular Culture: Trivial Pursuits? London: Macmillan.
• Featherstone, Mike. 1991. Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London: Sage.
• Fiske, John. 1989. Understanding Popular Culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
• du Gay, Paul idr. 1997. Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Walkman, London: Sage.
• Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture.” V: The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books.
• Hall, Stuart. 1980: “Encoding, Decoding.” V: Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies, 1972-79. Stuart Hall idr., ur. London: Hutchinson, 128–138.
• Lash, Scott, in Celia Lury. 2007. Global culture industry: the mediation of things. Scott Lash & Cambridge: Polity.
• O’Brien, Susie, in Imre Szeman. 2004. Popular Culture: A User’s Guide. Scarborough ON: Thompson Nelson.
• McRobbie, Angela. 1991. Feminism and Youth Culture, London: Macmillan.
• McRobbie, Angela. 1994. Postmodernism and Popular Culture, London: Routledge.
• Perica, Vjekoslav in Mitja Velikonja. 2012. Nebeska Jugoslavija: interakcije političkih mitologija i pop-kulture. Beograd: Biblioteka XX vek.
• Storey, John. 2006. “What is Popular Culture?” Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. 1. poglavje. Harlow: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
• Strinati, Dominic. 1995. An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture, London: Routledge.
• Senjković, Reana. 2008. Izgubljeno u prijenosu: pop iskustvo soc. culture, Zagreb: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku.
• William, Irwin, in Jorge J. E. Gracia, ur. 2007. Philosophy and the interpretation of pop culture. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Objectives and competences:

The objective of this course is to explore issues of history, identity, and popular culture through the lens of cultural and critical studies. The course provides insights into various theoretical and methodological approaches to studying popular culture, including Marxism, the Frankfurt School, postmodernism, semiotics, and feminist theory. Students will learn how popular culture reflects and influences social and cultural processes, and will develop skills in critical analysis and interpretation of popular cultural practices and products. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary research of history through popular culture, providing students with a broader understanding of contemporary culture and society.

Intended learning outcomes

Students will use the knowledge acquired in the course to produce a scientific contribution that can serve as a draft of a dissertation chapter or a research article. In doing so, they will develop the ability to critically analyse and interpret popular culture and enhance their academic writing skills, contributing to their scientific and professional development. They will understand the role of popular culture and its influence on society and culture, and examine the social and cultural contexts of popular cultural products and practices.

Learniong and teaching methods

Types of learning/teaching:

• Frontal teaching,
• Independent student work,
• e-learning.

Teaching methods:

• Explanation,
• Conversation, discussion, debate,
• Work with texts.

Assessment

• Long written assignments (100 %).