American Myths in Popular Culture

elective courses

The course is attempting to bring out hidden meanings and motivations predicating everyday life choices of Americans. In order to do so we will study popular literature, visual media and everyday world of artefacts that Americans use. We will use the textbook but also other readings and video materials.

In studying Popular Culture we attempt to grasp the meanings of everyday life choices, preferences, life styles and motivations of Americans. In our attempt to do so we apply descriptive and interpretive rather than normative and evaluative approaches. We try to look at all aspects of the everyday world of artifacts and ideas and then to find deeper meanings and themes that underlie our apparently spontaneous choices. In the course of the semester we will deal with movies, popular literature, cultural myths and legends, social rituals and everyday practices that Americans perform, while making sense of their lives.

The students will be asked to choose a topic within the field of study and to present their findings in class and in writing.

Anderson, Walter Truet, Reality Isn't What It Used to Be, Harper, 1990.

Fiske, John, Understanding Popular Culture, Routledge, 1989.

Mukerji, Chandra & Schudson, Michael (eds.), Rethinking Popular Culture.

Nachbar, Jack & Louse, Kevin, Popular Culture, Bowling Green, 1992.

Bellah, Robert: Habits of the Heart, Harper & Row, 1986.

K_W01 understands the importance, place and specificity of English philology in the context of the humanities;

K_W03 has an advanced knowledge of the grammar, syntax, phonology, phonetics, morphology, pragmatics of English and its history;

K_W05 knows the complex conditions of the process of second language acquisition; understands and properly applies models of foreign language acquisition typical of English linguistics;

K_W06 knows and understands the nuances of translation theory and the complexity of the translation process;

K_W08 has an in-depth knowledge of the historical development of language, especially English, and the semantic variability and complexity accompanying this process;

K_W09 has an advanced understanding of the complexity and pluralism of cultures, knows the obvious and non-obvious cultural codes that determine intercultural contacts, knows the structural and institutional conditions of culture, especially in the context of the countries of the English language area;

K_W10 knows to an advanced degree the geographical, historical, political, economic, cultural and social realities of the countries of the English language area;

K_U03 is able to present the acquired knowledge logically and clearly in written and oral form;

K_U05 can effectively select and apply knowledge of the discipline for communication, teaching, research purposes;

K_U09 is able to recognize obvious and secondary cultural symbols, use complex cultural codes when interacting with representatives of the cultures of the countries of the English language area, and generally in intercultural interactions;

K_K02 understands the role of lifelong learning and is convinced of the need for personal and professional development; defines the successive stages of this development;

K_K05 appreciates individual initiative, self-reliance, and recognizes the importance of personal contribution to team activities;

K_K06 recognizes the nature of dilemmas, problems, conflicts, and seeks the best solutions to them.