| CODE | PPG3002 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Politics in the Arts: Representation, Ideology and Critique | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Policy, Politics and Governance | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | How do The Beatles embody counterculture politics? What can Titanic tell us about social class? How is the Holocaust represented in Schindler鈥檚 List and La vita 猫 bella? What does The Lord of the Flies or The Hunger Games reveal about social organisation? What are the political messages in Picasso鈥檚 Guernica? Important political themes and issues have often been addressed in works of literature and the arts. Artistic works are also frequently potent political symbols reflecting the values, tastes and self-perception of leaders and political elites. Moreover, dissidents and social critics themselves utilise literature and the arts to criticise, inform, educate, lampoon, celebrate and mythologise for political ends. These considerations are the starting points of this study-unit, which draws students towards an appreciation of how political themes and ideas manifest themselves in literature and the arts. The study-unit explores a selection of artworks, ranging from Hollywood movies to arthouse cinema; from novels to political essays; from visual art to architecture; and from classical music to rock music. The politics of literature and the arts too will be considered in terms of topics such as the politics of representation. In this way, students will be introduced to a number of political themes, as well as equipped with the knowledge and skills to analyse and appreciate the political scope of literature and the arts. Study-Unit Aims: Aims of this study-unit are: - To introduce students to the ways political themes and messages are embedded in literature and the arts; - To develop students鈥� understanding of how literature and the arts reflect and critique social, political, and cultural values; - To explore the role of literature and the arts in political discourse, both as vehicles for elite ideologies and as tools for social critique; - To encourage critical engagement with a diverse selection of artistic media, including film, literature, music, and visual art, to analyze their political implications; - To foster skills in interpreting and analyzing literary and artistic works within a political context. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Recognize key political themes as they appear in literature and the arts; - Describe the role of artistic works as expressions of political ideology and social critique; - Explain how specific works or genres of literature and art reflect historical and cultural shifts in political values; - Identify the political context of various artistic expressions, including their influence on or resistance to power structures. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Analyse artistic works to extract and articulate their political messages; - Critically evaluate the use of literature and the arts in reinforcing or challenging political ideologies; - Conduct comparative analyses of artistic works to assess how political themes are represented across different media and cultural contexts; - Apply analytical tools to appreciate the nuances of political representation in various artistic genres and media. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Kellner, D. (1989) Critical Theory, Marxism, and Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 121-179. - Hall, S., 2019. Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse. In: D. Morley, ed, Essential Essays Vol. 1: Stuart Hall, pp. 254-276. - Tzioumakis, Y. & Molloy, C. (2016). The Routledge Companion to Cinema and Politics. London and New York: Routledge. - Wodak, R. & Forchtner, B. (2018). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics. London and New York: Routledge. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Visit | |||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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