Introduction to Visual Culture Studies (Winter 2012)

BA course: AmerF4 (5 credits) in module "Intermediate Literature and Culture"

Fri: 12.00-14.00 Felix Brinker, M.A.
Room: 1502, 615 Office Hour: Fri 14.00-15.00, Room 626
felix.brinker@engsem.uni-hannover.de

This class serves as an introduction to the broad field of visual culture and aims to familiarize participants with
the analysis and interpretation of (audio)visual texts of different media. Focusing in particular on photography
and film, but taking on other visual media (like the comic book) as well, we will explore methods and
approaches central to the study of still and moving images. We will engage in close formal analyses, discuss
the technological and material conditions of visualization, and place representations into their (social, cultural,
and historical) contexts. Participants are expected to attend the film screenings that will accompany the
seminar.

A reader with the course material can be picked up at the copy shop Stork, Krnerstrae 3, 30159 Hannover
(Tel: 1611890). Additional material and a hard copy of the reader can be found on the reserve shelf
(Handapparat) in the library. For further titles specifically on comic books and film, you might also check the
reserve shelves for Arian Sharokny-Prehns and Ilka Braschs classes. Please check StudIP regularly for updates.
Online Resources:
For each session handouts and additional materials will be posted on StudIP. The latter texts offer additional
information, context, or examples of methods of analysis and interpretation and should thus be useful if you
are thinking about writing a term paper or want to know more about the things discussed in each session.
In addition to these materials, the following websites offer useful resources for methods of analysis and
interpretation, as well as general overviews:
On film (terms, concepts, glossary, tips for writing, etc.):
http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/film.shtml
On photography (how to read photographs, glossary of terms):
http://nuovo.com/southern-images/analyses.html
On comics studies (bibliography, links to other online resources):
http://www.lib.fsu.edu/~speccoll/ervin/biblio.htm

Course Requirements / Studienleistungen:

1. Regular attendance and preparation for class
2. Small tasks/study questions in preparation of each session
3. Write a short definition of one the keyterms discussed in class (approx. 250-600 words) and post it on
StudIP before the next session begins (see separate handout for details).
4. F4-consultation for third-semester students (either in this or another F4 class)
5. Students writing a term paper (Prfungsleistung) are exempt from task 3.

Prfungsleistung:
Term paper (12-15 pages), to be submitted by March 11, 2013. In addition to the term paper itself, you need
to submit an abstract of your project (roughly 1 page) by January, 25, 2013. If you are planning to write a
paper, please see me during my office hours at least once before the end of the teaching period. Also, please
check the 'Richtlinien Literatur-/ Kulturwissenschaft: Hausarbeiten,' Recherche, and the English Seminar
stylesheet at http://www.engsem.uni-hannover.de/studienformulare_fueba.html (also available on the wall next
to Prof. Emigs office on the 7th floor) when conceiving and writing your paper.
Class Schedule
19.10. Introduction
Matthew Rampley, Visual Culture and the Meanings of Culture, Exploring Visual Culture,
1-17.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Culture, Culture of the Image, from Dictionary of Visual
Discourse, 228-232.
26.10. Coming to Terms with Visual Culture
W. J. T. Mitchell, Image, Critical Terms for M edia Studies, 35-48.
Nicholas Mirzoeff, Introduction: Global Visual Cultures. Paradox and Comparison, An
Introduction to Visual Culture, 2nd ed., 1-16.
Further Reading (on StudIP): W.J.T. Mitchell, Media, Addressing Media, Showing
Seeing. A Critique of Visual Culture, W hat Do Pictures W ant?, 198-199, 200-221, 336-
356; Nicholas Mirzoeff, Introduction: What is Visual Culture?, An Introduction to Visual
Culture, 1st ed, 1-33.
02.11. Reading Images Iconography & Iconology, Denotation and
Connotation
Erwin Panofsky, Ikonographie und Ikonologie (1955), Ikonographie und Ikonologie.
Bildinterpretation nach dem Dreifstufenmodell, 33-59.
Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking. Images, Power, and Politics.
Chapter 1 of Practices of Looking, 10-31 (31-44 optional).
Further Materials (on StudIP): Jeanne Willette, What is Iconography?, What is
Representation? Parts 1-3 (Podcasts taken from itunes U)
09.11. Photography and Modernity
Miles Orvell, Introduction, Presenting the Self, American Photography, 12-37.
Nicholas Mirzoeff, Modernity, Photography and Death. An Introduction to Visual
Culture, 113-126.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Elizabeth Allen, Introduction to the Imaging Process. The
Manual of Photography, 1-18; Terry Barrett, Describing Photographs, Interpreting
Photographs, Chapters 2 & 3 of Criticizing Photographs, 15-52.
16.11. no class / no office hours
23.11. Photography as Spectacle
Miles Orvell, Photography and the Image World, American Photography, 183-203.
Nicholas Mirzoeff, Spectacle and Surveillance, An Introduction to Visual Culture, 264-
270.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Slater, Don. Photography and Modern Vision. The Spectacle of
Natural Magic. Visual Culture, Chris Jenks, ed., 218-237.
30.11. Photography in the Digital Age
Miles Orvell, Conclusion: Post-Photography, American Photography, 205-216.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Mirzoeff, Nicholas. The Death of the Death of Photography. An
Introduction to Visual Culture, 250-263.
07.12. Early Film
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Early Cinema (1893-1903), 455-458, French
Impressionism and Surrealism (1919-1926), Soviet Montage (1923-1930), Film Art. An
Introduction, 463-469.
Tom Gunning, The Cinema of Attraction[s]: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avantgarde,
The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded, ed. Wanda Strauven, 381-388.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Tom Gunning, Crazy Machines in the Garden of Forking Paths:
Mischief Gags and The Origins of American Film Comedy, from Classical Hollywood
Comedy, eds. Kristine Brunovska Karnick and Henry Jenkins, 87-105; Susan Hayward,
Editing/Soviet Montage, from Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts, 94-97.
12.12. Film Screening: North by Northwest, 18:00 h, Room 615
14.12. Classical Hollywood Cinema
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Narrative as a Formal System (excerpts), Continuity
Editing, Film Art. An Introduction (9th Ed.), 78-104, 236-42.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Susan Hayward, Continuity Editing, Cinema Studies: The
Key Concepts, 74-75; David Bordwell, An Excessively Obvious Cinema, The Classical
Hollywood Cinema, 3-11; David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Glossary, from Film Art,
490-495.
19.12. Film Screening: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, 18:00 h, Room
615
21.12. Film in the Age of the Digital Image
Lev Manovich, What is Digital Cinema?, The Visual Culture Reader, 2nd edition, 405-416.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Interview with Edgar Wright, Richard Kenworthy, and Oscar
Wright, Art of the Title (http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world/).
Online Reading & Video.
Further Materials (online): Matthias Stork, Chaos Cinema, Parts 1-3 (Video Essay, Links on
StudIP); Steven Shaviro, Post-Continuity (http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/?p=1034).
11.01. The Medium of the Comic Book
Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith, Defining Comic Books as a Medium, The Power of
Comics, 1-19.
Scott McCloud, Introduction, Setting the Record Straight, Understanding Comics. The
Invisible Art, 1-23.
Bryan Lee OMalley, Chapter 1 of Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1: Precious Little Life.
Further Reading (on StudIP): Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith, Glossary, The Power of
Comics, 315-320.
18.01. Comic Book Form and Styles
Scott McCloud, The Vocabulary of Comics, Understanding Comics. The Invisible Art,
24-60.
Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Der Bat-Man. Der Fall des Chemie-Syndikats, Die Legende von
Batman, Batman. Klassiker der Comic-Literatur, Vol. 07, 13-20.
Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, Batman: Hush, Batman. Klassiker der Comic-Literatur, Vol. 07,
109-110.
Allan Moore, Brian Bolland, and Jim Higgins, Batman: The Killing Joke, Batman. Klassiker
der Comic-Literatur, Vol. 07, 111-156.
25.01. Reading Comic Books
Guest Lecture by Dr. Shane Denson: On the Phenomenology of Reading Comics.
McCloud, Scott, Blood in the Gutter, Understanding Comics. The Invisible Art, 60-93.
01.02. Conclusion / Outlook
Jared Gardner, Coda: Comics and the Future of 21st Century Storytelling, Chapter 6 of
Projections. Comics and the History of 21st Century Storytelling, 180-213.
Frank Miller, The Customer Is Always Right, from Booze, Broads, Bullets. Eleven Sin
City Yarns, 29-33.

Bibliography
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Arnold, Heinz Ludwig, and Andreas C. Knigge. Comics, M angas, Graphic Novels. Mnchen: Text +
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Barrett, Terry. Criticizing Photographs. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing, 2000. Print.
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Bordwell, David, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson. The Classical Hollywood Cinema. London and
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Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson. Film Art. An Introduction. 9th edition. New York: McGraw Hill,
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Carrier, David. The Aesthetics of Comics. University Park: University Press of Pennsylvania, 2001. Press.
Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics. The Basics. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Ditschke, Stephan und Katerina Kroucheva. Comics: Zur Geschichte und Theorie eines
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Duncan, Randy, and Matthew J. Smith. The Power of Comics. History, Form and Culture. New York:
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Eder, Barbara, Elisabeth Klar und Ramn Reichert. Theorien des Comics. Ein Reader. Bielefeld:
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Gardner, Jared. Projections. Comics and the History of Twenty-First-Century Storytelling.
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Hayward, Susan. Cinema Studies. The Key Concepts. 2nd edition. London and New York: 2000. Print.
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Jenks, Chris. Visual Culture. London and New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.
Jones, Amelia. The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. London and New York: 2010. Print.
Kane, Bob. Batman. Klassiker der Comic-Literatur Band 07. Frankfurt am Main: FAZ, 2005. Print.
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Mirzoeff, Nicholas. An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge,
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Mitchell, William J. Thomas, and Mark Hansen, ed. Critical Terms for M edia Studies. Chicago:
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Mitchell, William J. Thomas, Bildtheorie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2008. Print.
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Monaco, James. How to Read Film. M ovies, M edia, and Beyond. Art, Technology, Language,
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Orvell, Miles. American Photography. Oxford: UP, 2003. Print.
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