University of the West of England
MODULE SPECIFICATION
(Revised November 2002)
Code: UACPCQ-30-3 Title: Youth Culture and Consumption Version: 2
Level: 3 UWE credit rating: 30 ECTS credit rating: 15
Module type: Standard
Owning Faculty: Creative Arts Field: Culture and Media Studies Field Leader: J Arthurs
Contributes towards: Awards up to BA(Hons)
Valid from: April 2008 Discontinued from:
Pre-requisites: A pass in one of the following:
UACPAH-30-2 - Currents in Film Theory, UACPAL-30-2 – Hollywood,
UACPAM-30-2 - Globalisation: Media, Cultures and Identities, UACPAN-30-2 - Urban Cultures, UACPAP-30-2 - Cyberculture: Networks and Machines, UACPAQ-30-2 - Researching Culture,
UACPAS-30-2 - Contemporary Screen Media, UACPAT-30-2 - Culture and Identity.
Co-requisites: None
Excluded combinations: None
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate:
• through sustained argument and analysis an understanding of the historical development of ‘youth’ both as a social category and as a key part of the development of British cultural studies through the study of post war consumer culture (assessed through Component A - Element 1 and Component B - Element 1);
• an understanding of the significance of key debates and arguments relating notions of ‘active’ and ‘passive’ participation in youth culture and consumption (assessed through all components of assessment );
• the ability to understand and critically engage with the significance of theories of ideology and ‘resistance’ (eg; the ‘subcultural’ theories of the CCCS) in relation to youth culture (assessed through Component A - Element 1);
• the ability to sustain a detailed analysis of specific case studies (with particular emphasis on popular music) which highlight practices of innovation and negotiation within the production and consumption of popular cultural forms (assessed through Component B - Element 2);
• the ability to situate specific examples of identity formation and negotiation within youth cultures and subcultures within contemporary debates surrounding agency and control within popular culture (assessed through Component B - Elements 1 and 2).
Syllabus outline:
Post-war development of youth and youth culture in Britain. The impact of mass, Americanised youth culture in Britain and its influence on key debates within politics (eg; youth as ‘deviant’) and cultural studies (drawing on Hoggart and Williams).
Subcultural theory; focusing on the groundbreaking work of the CCCS in Birmingham and looking at youth subcultural formation as examples of ‘symbolic resistance’ as expressed through the key signifier of ‘style’
Debates surrounding the agency of young people within consumer culture (‘mainstream’ as well as ‘subcultural’); how significant are the micro-politics of everyday life?
The Culture Industry; examining the global music industry by using the ideas of the Frankfurt School (particularly Adorno and Horkheimer) to raise questions of control and ideology within popular youth culture.
Authenticity (1), with reference to specific examples. Examining alternative and proactive processes of production and consumption (such as the D-I-Y ethic and punk) of popular music which challenge or mediate the dominance of large music corporations.
Authenticity (2), with reference to specific examples, highlighting the negotiation of particular forms of ‘marginalized’ identity through musical subcultures (egs; ethnicity and hip-hop, sexuality and dance culture) and their influence on mainstream culture and identity.
Teaching and learning methods:
The module will be taught through lectures, screenings and seminars.
Indicative sources:
Adorno, Theodor |
The Culture Industry; Selected Essays on Mass Culture, trans. J. Bernstein, (London: Routledge, 1991). |
De Certeau, Michel |
The Practice of Everyday Life, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1984). |
Gelner, K & Thornton, S. (eds) |
The subcultures reader, (London: Routledge, 1997). |
Lipsitz, G. |
Dangerous crossroads: popular music, postmodernism and the poetics of place, (London: Verso, 1994). |
McGuigan, Jim |
Cultural Populism, (London: Routledge, 1992). |
Muggleton, David |
Inside Subculture: the postmodern meaning of style, (Oxford: Berg, 2000). |
Negus, Keith |
Music Genres and Corporate Cultures, (London: Routledge, 1999). |
Osgerby, B |
Youth in Britain since 1945, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998). |
Thornton, S |
Club cultures: music, media and subcultural capital, (London: Blackwell, 1995). |
Assessment
Weighting between components A and B (standard modules only) A: 30% B: 70%
ATTEMPT 1
First Assessment Opportunity
Component A
Description of each element Element weighting
1. Exam (2 hours) 30%
Component B
Description of each element Element weighting
1. Essay (2000 words) 25%
2. Extended Essay (4000 words) 45%
Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)
Component A
Description of each element Element weighting
1. Exam (2 hours) 30%
Component B
Description of each element Element weighting
1. Extended Essay (6000 words) 70%
SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT Attendance at taught classes is not required.
Specification confirmed by …………………………………………………Date ……………………………
(Associate Dean/Programme Director)