Cultural Products of Eastern Europe (U02693)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-4-LLC

The course critically examines a range of the products of the visual culture in Eastern Europe and Russia in relation to local and regional languages and identities.

The course consists of ten sessions which focus on distinct types of products and spaces of visual culture: cartoons, illustrations, artists' books, posters, popular magazines, animation, film, television, advertising and display, photography, new media, graffiti, architecture, monuments and urban spaces in Eastern European context. Each session emphasises the inherent tensions between: image and text, discourse and representation, text and context, memory and erasure, naming and marking.

Key topics discussed in the course include: propaganda and censorship; opposition and contestation; modernization, progress and tradition; local specificity of visual culture and its potential for crossing national and linguistic boundaries; the relationship between text and image, place and language; tensions between the popular and high culture; the contribution of the visual culture to shaping of national, political and gender identities, city as a site of representation, display, commemoration, and performance; the importance of the alphabetic and religious divides in shaping local identities; the stereotypes of symbolism and visual associations; the impact of visual culture and the visibility of texts on languages and identities; and creative potentials of media convergences and translations. The course explores visual culture in relation to local and regional languages and identities. It offers a framework for investigating the ways in which Western notions of visual culture are questioned and redefined in the Eastern European context.

? Keywords : Russian, Eastern European, Visual Culture

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : acceptance into Russian Studies 4 Hons

? Costs : charge for photocopies and course handbooks

Subject Areas

Home subject area

European Languages and Cultures - Russian Studies, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	12:10	13:00	Central
Lecture	Thursday	13:10	13:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

-Students will become familiar with the visual culture of Russia and Eastern Europe
-They will develop the analytical skills needed to engage with an array of cultural forms
-They will be able to engage critically with the difference and specificity of cultural products and cultural contexts.
-Students will further develop writing and oral presentation skills.