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275 f16 Syllabus
275 f16 Syllabus
Course Description: This course, a required course for Cultural Studies majors and
minors, will introduce various critical efforts to theorize the aesthetics, semiotics, and
politics of popular culture over the past century. Beginning with a few crucial theoretical
touchstones (Marx, Freud, structuralism), we will survey such movements as the
Frankfurt School, the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, critical
race studies, queer theory, affect theory, and various feminisms, as they each formulate
critical frameworks to explain how popular culture works. Along the way, we will
consider the following questions: What does the “popular” in “popular culture” mean?
Does the distinction between “high” and “low” culture have a political dimension?
Furthermore, when we do cultural studies, whose culture should be investigated? What is
the role of the critic? Finally, how can we grasp the meanings of popular culture: by
examining the texts themselves, or by studying the audiences’ interpretations and uses of
these texts? Note: Much of the reading for the course will, of necessity, be difficult; you
may need to reread many essays a few times before you fully grasp their arguments.
Therefore, it is imperative that you complete the readings before attending lecture.
Format: Lectures from 10:35 to 11:25am on Monday and Wednesday; weekly TA-led
conferences (except during the first two weeks of the term, during which there will be
lectures on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with no conferences). Conference
attendance is mandatory. Registration for conferences will open on Monday, Sept. 19th.
Required Texts: Roland Barthes, Mythologies (either Hill and Wang editions)
Course pack
Essays on class myCourses page
Evaluation: Two essays: the first worth 15% of the final grade, the second worth 30%
Midterm reading quiz: 15%
Final exam: 25%
Participation in conferences: 15%
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the
meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism, and other academic offences under
the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.
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(See www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information). Cases of plagiarism will
be reported to the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts, in keeping with University
policy.
In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course
have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded.
Any changes to the syllabus, and other important announcements, will be posted on the
class myCourses page, as well as announced in lecture.
Course Schedule (All readings are in the course pack unless otherwise indicated)
F 9/2 Introduction to the course
Cultural Studies before “Cultural Studies”: Mass Culture Theory and its Critics
W 9/28 Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry:
Enlightenment as Mass Deception”
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M 10/10 Thanksgiving holiday; no class
W 10/12 FIRST PAPER DUE AT START OF CLASS
Raymond Williams, “Conclusion” from Culture & Society: 1780-1950
Resisting Readers
M 11/7 John Fiske, “Popular Discrimination”
W 11/9 Janice Radway, “Reading is Not Eating” (myCourses)
M 11/21 Lisa Nakamura, “Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game: The Racialization
of Labor in World of Warcraft” (myCourses)
M 11/28 Eric Lott, “All the King’s Men: Elvis Impersonators and White Working-
Class Masculinity”
Final exam: Date and time TBA. Please note that final exams will be held from Dec. 7 to
Dec. 20. Please do not make your winter break travel plans until the final exam schedule
has been posted. (According to Senate regulations, instructors are not permitted to make
special arrangements for final exams.)