ANTHROPOLOGY 1758

GLOBALIZATION AND POPULAR CULTURE HARVARD UNIVERSITY FALL 2011

INSTRUCTOR:

EDWARD AKINTOLA HUBBARD

EMAIL:

[email protected]

TIME:

MONDAYS 3:00–5:00 PM

OFFICE:

WJH 452

CLASS LOCATION:

WJH ROOM 4 (BASEMENT)

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course explores the mediascapes of cinema, television, music, art and design, advertising, social networking, blogging, video and audio sharing and considers their global impact on political and consumer consciousness. In the first half of the course (i.e., “theory and criticism”) we will survey the main theoretical approaches to popular culture, including British culturalism, Frankfurt School marxism, feminism and queer theory, structuralism and poststructuralism, postmodernism and black cultural studies. In the second half of the course (i.e., “mediascapes”) we will focus on the trope of globalization, its promise of cultural innovation and its threat of cultural homogenization. We look at how culture industries outside of the ambit of the metropole take shape and consolidate markets. We also examine how the globalization of media and information technologies – for instance, the fact that people across the world can now “broadcast themselves” – has radically altered the form, content and flow of pop culture. All lectures and/or class discussions will be aided by audiovisual material including film clips, music, music videos, UGC, websites, commercials and live interviews with invited guests.

  ASSESSMENT: Attendance and participation: 15% Weekly response papers: 30% Arts and entertainment blog (group work): 25% Final paper: 30% Attendance and participation: Students must attend all classes and participate fully in class discussions and activities. Weekly response papers: There will be no midterm examination for this course, however, students will be expected to submit weekly response papers of no less than one page and no more than 1.5 pages. Each response paper must be a clear, concise, well-organized engagement with the week’s readings and should demonstrate analytical capabilities and creative thinking. It should include a brief overview of the material and a personal critical assessment or opinion. Mere summaries of the readings or lengthy anecdotal tangents will not be accepted. Arts and entertainment blog: The class will be distributed into groups and each group will be responsible for designing and constructing its own blog on Wordpress.com. The blog can include any kind of content related to arts and entertainment, however, groups will be graded highly for clear conceptualization (e.g., celebrity gossip, fashion and design, avantgarde performance, Asian pop, African digital art, etc.), quality of textual content, graphic innovation (it should at least be visually stimulating) and use of diverse media and sources. The blog will be graded in its entirety at the end of the course. Final paper: The final paper is due anytime before December 12. It can be on any topic related to the course content and should be 8-10 pages in length. REQUIRED TEXTS: John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009). David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard, The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution (Boston: Berklee Press, 2005).

2

 

3

PART 1: POP THEORY AND CRITICISM TRADITION BEGINS: CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION + CULTURALISM SEPTEMBER 12 The viewpoints of Matthew Arnold and the Leavisites that represent the first wave of intellectual thought about popular culture and its (largely negative) social effects; the later “culturalism” tradition and the rise of British cultural studies. Readings: •

John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009), Part 1: “The ‘Culture and Civilization’ Tradition,” Chapters 1–2, and Part 2: “Culturalism,” Chapters 3–6.

ENLIGHTENMENT AS MASS DECEPTION: THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL SEPTEMBER 19 An introduction to the Frankfurt School Marxists and their hugely influential (and pessimistic) analyses of pop culture; the culture industry and “mass deception.” Readings: •

John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009), Part 3: “Marxism,” Chapters 7–11.

MYTHOLOGIES: STRUCTURALISM AND POSTSTRUCTURALISM SEPTEMBER 26 A brief overview of one of the great theoretical enterprises of the twentieth century – structuralism; the influence of structuralism on the study of language and culture; the critical responses to structuralism known as “post-structuralism.” Readings: •

John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009), Part 5: “Psychoanalysis, Structuralism and Post-structuralism,” Chapters 24 and 28.

RUN THE WORLD: FEMINISM AND QUEER THEORY OCTOBER 3 Feminist interventions in media and cultural studies; archetypes of feminist pop iconicity such as the “diva,” “bitch” and “femme fatale”; pop icons to be discussed include Lady Gaga, Madonna, Beyoncé and RuPaul. Readings: •

John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009), Part 4: “Feminism,” Chapter 21.

•

Maria Raha, Hellions: Pop Culture’s Rebel Women (Berkeley: Seal Press, 2008), Chapter 1: “The Rebel Curve”

 

4

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: RACE AND RACISM IN THE STUDY OF POP CULTURE OCTOBER 17 The critique of racial and racist representation in the mass media; race, agency and selffashioning in popular culture. Readings: •

John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009), Part 6: “‘Race’, Racism and Representation,” Chapter 36.

•

Kobena Mercer, Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies (New York/London: Routledge, 1994), Chapter 1: “Monster Metaphors: Notes on Michael Jackson’s Thriller.”

THE DESERT OF THE REAL: POSTMODERNISM OCTOBER 24 The influential work of French philosopher Jean Baudrillard; postmodern culture and its signifiers; postmodernism considered from a global perspective. Readings: •

John Storey, ed., Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, Fourth Edition (London: Pearson Education Ltd./Longman, 2009), Part 7: “Postmodernism,” Chapters 37 and 41.

 

5

PART 2: MEDIASCAPES UNDERSTANDING MEDIASCAPES: MEDIA CONVERGENCE, POP CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION OCTOBER 31 A general introduction to theories of globalization; the impact of information and media technology on the production and consumption of culture; globalization and cultural imperialism. Readings: •

Arjun Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy," in The Globalization Reader, eds. Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (Malden MA/Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004), 100-108.

•

John Tomlinson, “Cultural Imperialism,” in The Globalization Reader, eds. Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (Malden MA/Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004), 303-311.

•

Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, (New York: New York University Press, 2006), 1-24.

GLOBAL DREAM FACTORIES: HOLLYWOOD, BOLLYWOOD, NOLLYWOOD AND THE KOREAN WAVE NOVEMBER 7 The film industries in the United States, India and Nigeria, their diasporic and global reach, and their critics; the multimedia phenomenon of the “Korean wave”; topics considered are authenticity, commercialization and cultural imperialism. Readings: •

Heather Tyrrell, “Bollywood vs. Hollywood: The Battle of the Dream Factories,” in The Globalization Reader, eds. Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (Malden MA/Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004), 312-318.

•

Pierre Barrot, ed., Nollywood: The Video Phenomenon in Nigeria (Indiana University Press, 2009), Selection

•

Chua Beng-Huat and Koichi Iwabuchi, eds., East Asian Pop Culture: Analyzing the Korean Wave (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008), Selection

FREE THIS CD!: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AT A CROSSROADS NOVEMBER 14 The state of the contemporary global music industry; the rise of digital music and the future of current business models and content formats; the threat of piracy. Reading: •

David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard, The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution, ed. (Boston: Berklee Press, 2005).

 

6

FRIENDING AND UNFRIENDING: THE POLITICS OF POPULARITY IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES NOVEMBER 21 Facebook and its role in contemporary global pop culture; social networking as a new celebrity and entertainment platform; the uses and abuses of online friendship and popularity. Readings: •

Samuel M Wilson and Leighton C. Peterson, "Anthropology of Online Communities," in Annual Review of Anthropology 31: Annual Reviews (2002): 449-467.

•

Steffen Dalsgaard, “Facework on Facebook: The Presentation of Self in Virtual Life and Its Role in the US Elections,” in Anthropology Today 24:6 (2008): 5-12.

•

Joseph B. Walther et al., "Too Much of a Good Thing? The Relationship Between Number of Friends and Interpersonal Impressions on Facebook," in Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13:3 (2008): 531-549.

GOING VIRAL: YOUTUBE AND THE NEW SUPERSTARDOM NOVEMBER 28 User generated content and the changing face of the superstar; YouTube and the democratization of mass media; Video sharing vs. television as social activities and as entertainment. Readings: •

Kathrin Peters and Andrea Seier, “Home Dance: Mediacy and Aesthetics of the Self on YouTube,” in The YouTube Reader, eds. Pelle Snickars and Patrick Vonderau (Stockholm: The National Library of Sweden, 2009), 187-203.

•

Christian Christensen, “’Hey Man, Nice Shot’: Setting the Iraq War to Music on YouTube,” in The YouTube Reader, eds. Pelle Snickars and Patrick Vonderau (Stockholm: The National Library of Sweden, 2009), 204-217.

•

Alan Lastufka and Michael W. Dean, YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts (Sebastopol, CA: O’ Reilly Media Inc., 2009), Chapter 15 “Interviews with Other YouTube Rock Stars.”

ARE U ON-AER?: THE FUTURE OF “OLD MEDIA” DECEMBER 5 Blogs and online magazines; How the reality television explosion has changed the nature and business of popular entertainment; The future of television in the face of the internet and UGC; A review of the arts and entertainment blogs produced by the class. Readings: •

William Uricchio, “The Future of a Medium Once Known as Television,” in The YouTube Reader, eds. Pelle Snickars and Patrick Vonderau (Stockholm: The National Library of Sweden, 2009), 24-39.

•

Aaron Barlow, The Rise of The Blogosphere. Westport CT/London: Praeger, 2007. (Selection)

•

Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, (New York: New York University Press, 2006), 26-58.