Culture Theory

Objectives

a) To acquire a global understanding of the evolution of cultural theory in western academic contexts since the eighteenth century;
b) To develop an in depth knowledge of the main typologies of the concept of ?culture?;
c) To understand the importance of cultural interference, cultural transfer and cultural polyphony in the era of globalization;
d) To develop the critical skills necessary to reflect on the proposed topics;
e) To develop the competence required to develop an autonomous research in the field of Cultural Studies.

General characterization

Code

722160003

Credits

10.0

Responsible teacher

Fernando José de Almeida Esperança Clara

Hours

Weekly - 3

Total - 280

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

  • Adorno, T. W. (1991). The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. (J. M. Bernstein, Ed.). London; New York: Routledge.
  • Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2002). The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures (2nd edition). London; New York: Routledge.
  • During, S. (1999). The Cultural Studies Reader. London; New York: Routledge.
  • Fiske, J. (1989). Reading the Popular. London; New York: Routledge.
  • Wallerstein, I. M. (2006). European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power. New York: New Press.

Teaching method

Exposition and questioning of theoretical concepts; analysis and discussion of themes and texts; tutorial supervision of thematic and bibliographical research assignments.

Evaluation method

Continuous Assessment - One individual oral presentation of a book, essay, author or topic(30%), Final written essay (5000 words)(70%)

Subject matter

1. Typologies of the concept of ´culture´ in contemporary western academic contexts.
2. Towards a genealogy of the concept of ´culture´ since the late eighteenth century.
3. The late twentieth century ´cultural turn´ and its consequences for the Humanities.

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: