In this seminar, we look at narrative films from the perspective of cultural studies. Our main focus will be on matters of representation – as not only reflective, but constructive of cultural identity and ideology – and the connected question of what an engagement with film can tell us about class, race, gender, and sexuality in the US in both historical perspective and contemporary contexts.
To enable students to meaningfully contextualize individual movies, this seminar will first introduce the basics of film analysis, genre theory, and movie history. We will then discuss central theories of representation in cultural studies. Equipped with this methodological and theoretical toolbox, we will dedicate the remainder of the seminar to close engagement with select case studies from Hollywood’s golden era to today.
- Dozent/in: Simeon Apitz
- Dozent/in: Katrin Horn