Course Resources Archive

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore notions of identity and representation at the ‘cutting edge’ of critical theory. It investigates the value and relevance of a broad range of frameworks for understanding the nature of social identity and its screen mediation in contemporary society.

Drawing upon a wide spectrum of key critical and theoretical methodologies, this module seeks to (re)negotiate the construction and representation of screen identity in the 21st century. Students will interrogate the limits and transformative possibilities of contemporary perceptions of ‘selfhood’ and ‘embodiment’, as mediated through an ever changing space of parasocial interaction and subjectivity. By re-examining those cultural industries, communities and communicative practices that have come to shape such identity-formations (from film and television representations to the communities of the internet and other techno-cultural forms) they will explore the new ways in which such screen media have been employed to both challenge and re-imagine contemporary understandings of history, community and memory in the new millennium.

On successful completion of the module students should be able to:

i. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of traditional and contemporary theories of identity, representation and difference
ii. Display an ability to apply and synthesize such modes for mediating identity across a broad range of screen media texts, forms and cultural practices
iii. Comprehensively and analytically evaluate the ways in which identity is socially constructed , challenged and complicated
iv. Critically assess and critique scholarly literature in the fields of screen theory and identity studies
v. Work individually and cooperatively in the synthesis and analysis of extensive independent research data

24 hours contact time, including lectures and seminars.
126 hours independent study.

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.