93545 - Communication Laboratory (Lm) (G.B)

Learning outcomes

The workshop aims to provide students with skills in the field of journalistic and media content production (television, radio and Internet). At the end of the course the student: - masters the main techniques of producing news and media content - is able to independently produce news content in written, oral or multimedia form.

Course contents

"Exploring the Contemporary Imaginary. A Sociological Reading of Television Series and Film."

 
The main motivation driving this course is the need to highlight society's representations of power and domination, class and gender inequalities, and racism through television series, film, advertising, and other forms of mass culture expression. The idea is for a nimble and concise approach to such a vast and complex topic as imagery.

The workshop includes a historical-theoretical part and a part of applied sociology of the imaginary. During the course, the history and sociology of the modern and postmodern imaginary will be analyzed through the fundamental concepts of authors such as Slavoj Zizek (ideology), Joseph Campbell (hero's journey), Theodor W. Adorno (culture industry), among others. Based on the development of some of the concepts proposed by these authors, some video materials representative of the modern imaginary will be analyzed.

Image, imaginary, imagination; through these three concepts that will accompany the course activities, the following questions will be asked: what is the role of the imaginary and imagination in the context of the multiple realities that are constructed through the image? How is the collective imagination constructed and deconstructed? What is the social importance of the imaginary?

Program of the main activities:

 
Theme 1: What is the imaginary?

The term "imaginary," its relationship to contemporary society and how it has been shaped by mass culture through various cultural products will be explored.

Theme 2: Vampires vs. Zombies. The function of terror in society
Based on philosopher Slavoj Zizek's text "Trouble in Paradise. From the End of History to the End of Capitalism," a Marxist analysis of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat will be made through a comparison between the figure of the vampire in cinema and the zombies that have entered the common imagination through literature and film since the 1960s.

Theme 3: The hero, the myth and the History
Using visual material (comic books, graphic novels, films, series, documentaries) and concrete examples of "contemporary heroes" such as Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Maradona, we aim to answer the following questions: why does society need heroes? How does society construct and choose its heroic figures? This session will work mainly on two texts, "The Politics of Batman" by Slavoj Žižek and "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell.

Theme 4: Imaginary Love
This session will discuss love and new technologies and how they have generated new ways of relating to each other. Examples such as long-distance love, dating apps, artificial intelligence, and social networks will be examined. It will look at how new intimacy has been created and how love relationships have been transformed in today's society. It will analyze how a new intimacy was created and how love relationships have transformed in today's society, creating a concrete impact on representations of love in today's cinema and television. Some of the texts that will be analyzed in class are "What's Love Got to Do with It?: Emotions and Relationships in Pop Songs" by Thomas Scheff and "Talk of Love: How Culture Matters" by Ann Swidler.

Theme 5: The figure of the anti-hero: violence, representation, and the "culture of evil."
In recent times there has been a strong interest on the part of the entertainment industry in representing the figure of the criminal through an attractive and seductive narrative, to the point of being accused of creating a kind of "apologia for violence." As a product of the collective imagination, the criminal is an archetype that embodies certain goals (money, power, sex) that the dominant culture simultaneously encourages and represses. As an imaginary and iconic figure, the criminal, embodied by the narco or gangster, is a way to discuss patriarchal structures and masculinity in different cultural contexts. The focus of this session is a cross-cultural comparative analysis of television series on organized crime, with particular attention to The Sopranos (1999-2007), Gomorrah (2014-2019), and Narcos: Mexico (2018-present).

Theme 6: The feminization of culture?
Feminism has had a major impact on the representation of the female figure in film and television. However, it is interesting to analyze the role that women have played in different cultural products throughout history, which have been transformed depending on the political and social context in which they were located. Figures such as, for example, "the witch" and "the stepmother" have changed in the social and cultural imaginary due to the fact that the representations of them are always closer to a flesh-and-blood woman than to a monster. Does this mean that there is a feminization of culture?

Other topics of interest to the sociology of the imaginary will be explored, such as migration, social movements, the link between state and identity, etc. Since this is a workshop, the idea is that students can also propose topics of their own interest, allowing them to explore and analyze different cultural products from a sociological perspective.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Readings/Bibliography

Anderson, B. (2018). Comunità immaginate: origini e fortuna dei nazionalismi. Gius. Laterza & Figli SpA.

Beck, U. Amore a distanza. Il caos globale degli affetti. Roma- Bari: Laterza, 2012.

Campbell, J. L'eroe dei mille volti. Milano: Feltrinelli, 1958.

Castoriadis, C. L'elemento immaginario. Pisa: ETS, 2021

Grassi, V. Introduzione alla sociologia dell'immaginario. Per una comprensione della vita quotidiana. Milano: Guerini, 2006.

Tirino M. e Tramontana A. I riflessi di «Black Mirror». Glossario su immaginari, culture e media della società digitale. Roma: Rogas, 2018

Scheff, T. J. What's Love Got to Do with It?: Emotions and Relationships in Pop Songs. London: Routledge, 2015.

Swidler, A. Talk of love: How culture matters. Chicago: University of Chicago press, 2001.

Zizek, S. Problemi in paradiso: Il comunismo dopo la fine della storia. Milano: Ponte alle Grazie, 2015.

Most of these texts are in other languages such as English and Spanish. If any of the students need support in finding the bibliography, please contact the teacher.

 

Teaching methods

Since this is a workshop, it is a fundamentally hands-on course in which the idea is to be able to "experiment" together with students and to be able to share knowledge and reflections based on the texts, concepts, authors and visual material presented in class. In this sense, in-class discussions and active student participation will be encouraged. The format of the workshop is similar to that of the round table, where the teacher-student can sustain a horizontal dialogue.

Assessment methods

There will be ongoing assessment throughout the course based on the assignments given to students and their active participation during class. As a final assignment, students must submit a short written paper in which they analyze a visual product from the perspective of the sociology of the imaginary and the concepts they worked on in class. Specific details will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Most of the PDF readings will be shared with the students, as well as the visual material that will be analyzed during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Paulina Sabugal Paz