Popular Global Screen Cultures | FILM3043 | University of Southampton

Module overview

This module will focus on global popular screen texts, such as films, television series and digital media to reflect on how global popular culture is produced, by whom, what are their main characteristics and where popular culture global appeal lies. This module will seek to introduce you to the ways in which global popular screen texts are produced, by whom, what are their main characteristics and where global popular screen texts’ global appeal lies. It will analyse how screen media industries are organized, as well as the diverse cultural, political, and economic contexts in which global popular screen texts are produced, distributed, exhibited, and consumed. It will discuss some of the principal theories and debates on popular culture, globalisation, cultural industries and cultural imperialism. It will look at different global popular screen texts, ranging from films, television and digital media, assessing their production contexts, formal attributes, ways of circulation, and reception. It will trace how contemporary global popular screen texts have evolved historically since the advent of globalisation in the 20th century. It will discuss the different political purposes of contemporary global popular screen texts, their relationship to industrial contexts and state institutions, how global popular screen texts represent and relate to issues such as class, gender, race, and capitalism and how global popular screen texts can contribute to the ways in which audiences make sense of themselves. Global popular screen texts are political because it serves as a site of contestation over hegemonic cultural and political values—a space where cultural hegemony is either reinforced or challenged. This phenomenon has become even more poignant in the contemporary globalised society we live in, where popular screen texts flows travel though transnational pipelines and reach global audiences. In the same manner, contemporary global popular screen texts reflect the impact of advanced capitalism and new media technologies as components of an increasingly interconnected world-system. After completing this module, you will be able to explore your own reflective capabilities in the context of independent learning and professional development, use computing and information technology to enhance a professional presentation of yourself and your work, research and manage data and start developing your skills in decision-making, planning and organising, including self-management.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

the social, political, historical and economic contexts of global popular screen texts
the reasons why popular culture matters
Key concepts and theories to analyse global popular screen texts.
key concepts and theories to analyse global popular screen texts
the characteristics by which films, television series and digital media are not just as a collection of texts but as a cultural activity toed to specific practices, such as cinemagoing or fandom.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

articulate critical analysis on global popular screen texts
Engage critically with a range of theories on popular culture, globalisation, cultural industries and cultural imperialism.
critically research and analyse screen popular texts in video essays and oral presentations.
connect the themes explored in this module to other cultural artefacts

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Communicate effectively in writing and speech
acquire global awareness of how popular screen texts operate
organise time effectively
independently research appropriate resources such as box office databases, industry and statistical reports, audience data, and social media analytics to investigate the popularity and social significance of a particular global popular screen text.

Syllabus

This module will focus on global popular screen texts, such as films, television series and digital media to reflect on how global popular culture is produced, by whom, what are their main characteristics and where popular culture’s global appeal lies. The module will explore some of the principal theories on popular culture, globalisation, cultural industries and cultural imperialism. It will also think about how global popular screen texts represent and relate to issues such as class, gender, race, and capitalism. The screenings and readings will be designed to convey these questions. At the start of the module, we will begin by establishing the reasons why popular culture matters and how it can be considered as a space where cultural hegemony is either reinforced or challenged. The module will proceed through discussion of different global popular screen texts such as films, television series and digital media to understand how their production contexts, formal attributes, ways of circulation, and reception. We will also analyse how these popular screen texts represent topical issues such as class, gender, race, and capitalism and whether they reinforce or challenge cultural hegemonic values. Typical screen texts might include globally popular films such as Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023, United States) and television series popular within an specific context, such as Made in Chelsea (E4, 2011-present, United Kingdom); non-Western texts that have gained relative popularity in Western contexts such as Cidade de Deus (City of Good, Fernando Meirelles, 2002, Brazil, film) and Squid Game (Siren Pictures Inc, First Season, 2021, South Korea, TV series); non-Western texts that are popular within their own cultural contexts but remain less familiar in the West (e.g., Bollywood films and Nollywood movies); finally, digital media texts such as C. Tangana’s videoclips and prominent trends on platforms like YouTube or TikTok, e.g., Mr. Beast.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include · Lectures, used to introduce key issues and themes · Seminars, incorporating small group work and larger group discussion · Screenings of selected films, tv series and digital media · Individual consultations with tutor Learning activities include · Independent study, research, and viewing · Critical thinking, reading, and writing · Engagement in seminar discussions as both speaker and listener · Preparation of written assignments

Study time
Type	Hours
Practical classes and workshops	30
Preparation for scheduled sessions	30
Seminar	10
Lecture	10
Completion of assessment task	70
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Journal Articles

Hall, S. (1981). Encoding/Decoding. Culture, Media, Language , pp. 128-138.

Textbooks

Fiske, J. (2010). Understanding Popular Culture. Oxfordshire : Taylor and Francis.

Hesmondhalgh, D. (2018). The Cultural industries. Newcastle upon Tyne: Sage.

Scholte, J.A. (2005). Globalization: A Critical Introduction. London : Palgrave Macmillan.

Storey, J. (2021). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. An Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.

Miller, T. (Ed.) (2015). The Routledge Companion to Global Popular Culture. London and New York: Routledge.

Darling-Wolf, F (2015). Imagining the Global: Transnational Media and Popular Culture Beyond East and West. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Audio or Video Recording	20%
Audio-visual assessment	80%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Audio-visual assessment	80%
Audio or Video Recording	20%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Audio or Video Recording	20%
Audio-visual assessment	80%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal