Unit name | Popular Representation and Institutions of Culture |
---|---|
Unit code | MODL20026 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Hurcombe |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
MODL10116 (Comparative Literature: What is it and how can we practise it?) and MODL10017 (Introduction to Visual Cultures), or equivalent |
Co-requisites |
MODL20024 |
School/department | School of Modern Languages |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The right to political representation is perceived as a defining characteristic of European liberal democracy, yet over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first century it has competed against authoritarian and totalitarian political systems that have used populist rhetoric to claim legitimacy based on a notional and abstract will of the people. At the same time, even liberal democracies have exercised power over colonial and post-colonial countries in ways that disregard or manipulate the right to political representation. In various ways all political systems have erected institutions of culture aimed at shaping the mindset of the people they claim to represent and from whom they draw their legitimacy, while simultaneously being shaped by distinctive pre-existing socio-cultural formations, such as the power of culturally specific kinds of elites. The aim of this unit is to examine and compare through a set of national case studies the various types of political systems that have existed in modern European history, with a particular focus on their socio-cultural embedding, on their discursive attempts to achieve popular legitimacy, and on the institutions of culture they have designed in order to secure consent and consolidate their power, including in their projection beyond national borders.
By the end of the unit the students will be able to:
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How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
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Assessment
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The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.