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Prikazi američke politike u književnosti i vizualnim medijima

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Naziv kolegija: Prikazi američke politike u književnosti i vizualnim medijima (A, 20. st.)

Course title: Images of American Politics in Literary and Visual Media (A, 20th c.)
Instructor: Dr. Jelena Šesnić, Full Prof.
Requirements: Enrollment in the MA program in English.

Fall 2021/2022

Mon, 11-12:30 (A-123)
Wed, 13:15-14 (A-105)
E-mail: jsesnic@ffzg.hr
Phone: 01-4092060
Office: B-018
Office hours: Mon, 12:30-1:30 p.m.; Thur, 14:30-15:30 p.m.

Course description: American political system has been a medium of democratic governance of one of the most powerful countries in the world for more than two centuries. During that time segments of the democratic system have changed in scope and function allowing us to consider the direction and implications of those changes. Different elements of the system must be considered in order to give a more comprehensive picture of the impact and role of democratic processes: the party system, checks-and-balances, institution of the presidency, separation of powers (the legislative branch, the judiciary, the executive branch), the role of the Constitution, the role of the media, campaigning and voting from local to state to federal level, democratic participation, populism, lobbying and pork-barrel, politics in the age of social media, the 2020 pandemic and politics, etc. These processes will be placed in a cultural context primarily with respect to their representations in fiction and visual media, particularly in the late modern period (from the second half of the 20th century), while the focus of the course will be on popular and media-generated images related to different facets of American political system.

Course requirements: Regular attendance (10%); home and in-class assignments (20 %); seminar paper (10-12 double-spaced pp., Times New Roman, 12; 40 %); continuous assessment (mid-term and final test; 30 %).

Primary texts:

Fiction: Robert Penn Warren: All the King’s Men (1946) (novel)


Films: John Frankenheimer: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Alan Pakula: The Parallax View (1974)

Oliver Stone: Nixon (1995)

Oliver Stone: W (2008)

John Madden: Miss Sloane (2016)

Jon Stewart: Irresistible (2020)

Secondary readings will be provided in the course reader on Omega.

Optional reading:

  • Christ, Birte, and Greta Olson, eds. Obama and the Paradigm Shift: Measuring Change. Universitätsverlag Winter, 2012.
  • Foy, Joseph, ed. Homer Simpson Goes to Washington: American Politics through Popular Culture. The UP of Kentucky, 2008.
  • Hofstadter, Richard. 1948. The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It. Vintage Books, 1989.
  • Hofstadter, Richard. 1963. The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays. Harvard UP, 1996.
  • Howe, Irving. Politics and the Novel. Fawcett Premier, 1967.
  • Jones, Charles O. The American Presidency: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2007.
  • Maisel, Sandy L. American Political Parties and Elections: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2007.
  • Nelson, Dana. Bad for Democracy: How the Presidency Undermines the Power of the People. U of Minnesota P, 2010.
  • Revue LISA/ LISA e-journal. Bypassing Confusion to Understand the Trump Phenomenon, XVI, no. 2, 2018.
  • Shaw, Tony. Hollywood’s Cold War. U of Massachusetts P, 2007.