Media in Cultural Context

Readings

Required Texts

Havens, Timothy. Global Television Marketplace. London, UK: British Film Institute, 2006. ISBN: 9781844571048.

Sinclair, John, Elizabeth Jacka, and Stuart Cunningham, eds. New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780198711223.

Tomlinson, John. Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780801842504.

Recommended Texts

Readings will be taken from the following texts throughout the semester, but a complete reading of both is useful.

Moran, Albert. Copycat Television: Globalisation, Program Formats, and Cultural Identity. Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: University of Luton Press, 1998. ISBN: 9781860205378.

Olson, Scott Robert. Hollywood Planet: Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999. ISBN: 9780805832303.

Allen, Robert Clyde, and Annette Hill, eds. The Television Studies Reader. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. ISBN: 9780415283243.

Additional Note

The course requires students source some set material themselves, and successfully completing this task comprises a component of the class-participation grade for the semester.

Readings by Weekly Session

WEEK #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Course introduction	(no readings)
2	International television trading: Selling American ‘culture’?	Havens, Timothy. “Introduction: Studying Global Television Merchants,” “The History of Global Television Sales,” and “Selling Television Internationally.” In Global Television Marketplace. London, UK: British Film Institute, 2006, pp. 1-65. ISBN: 9781844571048. Tomlinson, John. “The Discourse of Cultural Imperialism.” In Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, pp. 1-33. ISBN: 9780801842504. Sinclair, John, Elizabeth Jacka, and Stuart Cunningham. “Peripheral Vision.” In New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. USA: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 1-32. ISBN: 9780198711223. Appadurai, Arjun. “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.” In Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity: The Theory, Culture and Society Special Issue. Edited by M. Featherstone. London, UK: Sage, 1990, pp. 295-310. ISBN: 9780803983229.
3	Economics of the trade in text	Hoskins, Colin, and Rolf Mirus. “Reasons for the U.S. Dominance of the International Trade in Television Programmes.” Media, Culture and Society 10, no. 10 (1988): 499- 504. Hoskins, Colin, Rolf Mirus, and William Rozeboom. “U.S. Television Programs in the International Market: Unfair Pricing?” Journal of Communication 39, no. 2 (1989): 55-75. Rozeboom, William, Colin Hoskins, Stuart McFadyen, and Adam Finn. “Export Pricing of Television Programmes.” In Global Television and Film: An Introduction to the Economics of the Business. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 68-50. ISBN: 9780198711476. Havens, Timothy. “Buying International Programming.” In Global Television Marketplace. London, UK: British Film Institute, 2006, pp. 95-118. ISBN: 9781844571048.
4	Local reception as response	Tomlinson, John. “Media Imperialism,” and “Cultural Imperialism and the Discourse of Nationality.” In Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction. London, UK: British Film Institute, 2006, pp. 34-101. ISBN: 9780801842504. Liebes, Tamar, and Elihu Katz. “Mutual Aid in the Decoding of Dallas.” In The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1990, pp. 82-99. ISBN: 9780195054873. Miller, Daniel. “The Consumption of Soap Opera: The Young and the Restless and Mass Consumption in Trinidad.” In To Be Continued…Soap Operas Around the World. Edited by Robert Clyde Allen. New York, NY: Routledge, 1995, pp. 213-33. ISBN: 9780415110075. Cunningham, Stuart, and Elizabeth Jacka. “Neighbourly Relations? Cross-Cultural Reception Analysis and Australian Soaps in Britain.” Cultural Studies 8, no. 3 (1994): 509-526.
5	Genre and ’transparency’ - textual arguments for the trade in text	Olson, Scott Robert. “Hollywood Planet: Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency.” In The Television Studies Reader. pp. 111-129. ———. “The Transparent Text.” In Hollywood Planet: Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999, pp. 87-113. ISBN: 9780805832303. Green, Joshua. “Narrative Transparency and the Form of Teen Drama.” In Acts of Translation: Young People, American Teen Dramas, and Australian Television 1992-2004. Doctoral Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2005, pp. 88-147. Recommended Reading Olson, Scott Robert. “The Transparent and the Opaque.” In Hollywood Planet: Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999, pp. 134-161. ISBN: 9780805832303.
6	Scheduling international content	Havens, Timothy. “Scheduling International Television Imports.” In Global Television Marketplace. London, UK: British Film Institute, 2006, pp. 119-156. ISBN: 9781844571048. Ellis, John. “Scheduling: The Last Creative Act in Television?” Media, Culture and Society 22, no. 1 (2000): 25-38. Green, Joshua. “Network Ten and the Creation of a Youth Broadcaster.” In Acts of Translation: Young People, American Teen Dramas, and Australian Television 1992-2004. Doctoral Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2005, pp. 148-212.
7	Format trade	Waisbord, S. “McTV: Understanding the Global Popularity of Television Formats.” Television and New Media 5, no. 4 (2004): 359-383; available from MIT Library. Moran, A. “Program Adaptations and Cultural Identity.” In Copycat Television: Globalisation, Program Formats, and Cultural Identity. Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: University of Luton Press, 1998, pp. 75-144.
8	Taking texts elsewhere - translation, adaptation, and subtitling	Ferrari, Chiara. “The Nanny in Italy: Language, Nationalism and Cultural Identity.” Global Media Journal 3, no. 4 (Spring 2004). Kilborn, Richard. “Speak My Language.” Media, Culture and Society 15, no. 4 (1993): 641-660. Research Exercise Find scholarly work discussing the American adaptation of The Office.
9	International texts and transnational identities	Wark, McKenzie. “Vector.” In Virtual Geography: Living with Global Media Events. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994, pp. 3-28. ISBN: 9780253208941. Gillespie, Marie. “Local Uses of Media: Negotiating Culture and Identity.” In Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change. New York, NY: Routledge, 1995, pp. 76-108. ISBN: 9780415096751. Sparks, Colin. “The Global, the Local and the Public Sphere.” In The Television Studies Reader. pp. 139-150.
10	Alternative trade routes: Diasporic media use	Sinclair, John, and Stuart Cunningham. “Diasporas and the Media.” In Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas. Edited by John Sinclair and Stuart Cunningham. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, pp. 1-34. ISBN: 9780742511361. Cunningham, Stuart, and Tina Nguyen. “Popular Media of the Vietnamese Diaspora.” In Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas. Edited by John Sinclair and Stuart Cunningham. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, pp. 91-135. ISBN: 9780742511361.
11	World markets 1 - Latin America and India	Sinclair, John. “Mexico, Brazil and the Latin World.” In New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. pp. 33-68. Ray, Manas, and Elizabeth Jacka. “Part II: Indian Television: An Emerging Regional Force.” In New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. pp. 83-100.
12	World markets 2 - China, Egypt and the Arab World	Chan, Joseph Man. “Television in Greater China: Structure, Exports, and Market Formation.” In New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. pp. 126-161. Hong, Junhao. “Television Program Importation Since the Reform of the 1980s.” In The Internationalization of Television in China: The Evolution of Ideology, Society, and Media Since the Reform. Wesport, CT: Praeger, 1998, pp. 57-76. ISBN: 9780275959982. Amin, H. “Egypt and the Arab World in the Satellite Age” In Sinclair, J, E. Jacka, and S. Cunningham. New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. USA: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 101-125. ISBN: 9780198711223.
13	World markets 3 - Britain, Canada and Australia	O’Regan, Tom. “The International Circulation of British Television.” In British Television: A Reader. Edited by C. Brundson and J. Caughie. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 303-322. ISBN: 9780198742654. Attallah, Paul. “Canadian Television Exports: Into the Mainstream.” In New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. pp. 161-191. Cunninham, Stuart, and Elizabeth Jacka. “Australian Television in World Markets.” In New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. pp. 192-228.
14	Course review	(no readings)