LMCV 202 Lecture 1

LMCV 202 Lecture 1. Cultural Studies: Contemporary Society (b) – 22 July, 2025.

Dr Siwak: Brief Introduction. Senior Lecturer, Masters and Doctoral Coordinator, Lecturing for 15.5 years PhD obtained in 2017 Five Academic Journal Publications: 2024 – Book Chapter: “Effective Communication on Climate Change in Africa: Global Noise, Local Expression” Climate Change Communication in Africa (Routledge – Taylor and Francis Group) (Forthcoming – December 23, 2025) 2023 – Article: “Looking at Animals through a Digital Lens – A general repetition of tendencies and a different take” Stilet Special Issue 2019 – Chapter: “The Virtual Identities of Actual Gamers: An Analysis of Popular Response to Mass Effect 3” (Pages 239 - 246) in Engaging with Videogames: Play, Theory and Practice Inter-Disciplinary Press/BRILL (UK) 2019 – Article: “Affective Communication: Exchanges between People and Nature via Information Technology” in Communicatio 45 (2) UNISA Press (Routledge - Taylor and Francis Group) 2018 – Article: “Digital communication and agency: Unseen infrastructures that influence our communicative capacities online” in Communicare 37 (1) University of Johannesburg Press.

Dr Siwak: Brief Introduction. My Lecturing Style: I send out Lecture Slides every week by uploading them onto Funda. You should all be pre-registered on the LMCV 202 Funda Page, so NO KEY is necessary. If we miss a lecture due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. protest action or load shedding), I will record a lecture and make it available to you on OneDrive/SharePoint In-person consultations: Book by email.

Cultural Studies. It is worthwhile to remind ourselves what cultural studies is and how to approach it before we look at the specific topics explored in this semester’s version of Cultural Studies, namely LMCV 202..

Cultural Studies. What is Cultural Studies? Simply put, Cultural Studies is interested in trying to understand various phenomena that we can observe in our societies. For example, we may ask, why do so many young men today want to go the gym and get a particular look? What does this, for instance, say, about how these young men view themselves? Where does that desired look come from? What does it say about masculinity today? And so on. In Cultural Studies, we look for the possible underlying dynamics for individual behaviours within society/societies. And to do so, we rely on specific theoretical contributions (or understandings of the world) that may help us understand those phenomena..

Cultural Studies. How should I approach Cultural Studies? Very importantly, those theoretical contributions are not some kind of ultimate truths. They are specific perspectives based on observation, study, and argumentation. You should see them as interesting high-level arguments – and you can agree with them, disagree with them, or partially agree + partially disagree. And indeed, any argument I present to you in class as part of the module has many defenders and many detractors (it is part of a large, contested discourse). Cultural Studies exists as part of the BA (MCC) to get students to think about social phenomena in a complex, sophisticated manner – because the world is complex, and you will be contending with it throughout your personal and professional lives as potential writers, videographers, designers, media actors, and so on..

Lecture 1. Scope of the module, outcomes, objectives, rules, and general questions ➢ Gordon E. Bigelow’s “A Primer of Existentialism” (pp. 171-178) [access through the university library’s FindPlus] The historical context of existentialism and the problem of ‘essence’ Existential angst and ‘nothingness’ Transgressive existential freedom.

Scope of the module. The anticipated outcomes of this module are that students will develop, firstly, an understanding of both the philosophical features of modern existentialism, and the politico-economic and socio-cultural developments to which it was, and continues to be, a response; secondly, the capacity to identify the different echoes and reflections of existentialism in contemporary cultural dynamics; and thirdly, an ability to critically consider existentialism in relation to contemporary thought on our responses to trauma. Some brief notes: Existentialism is about meaning, searching form meaning, generating meaning – especially in response to some kind of crisis (of meaning) you may face. Existentialism is a very broad philosophical concept. In this module, after learning what existentialism is, we look at how (A) people search for meaning via the body + via the body in relation to technology, and (B) how trauma could have us going down the wrong paths in our search for meaning..

Scope of the Module – First Objective. Accordingly, the first objective of this module is to introduce students to Gordon E. Bigelow’s “A Primer of Existentialism,” and Longhurst and his colleagues’ Chapter 8 “Cultured Bodies” from their Introducing Cultural Studies. This is done in the interest of helping students to understand both the philosophical features of modern existentialism, and the politico-economic and socio-cultural developments to which it was, and continues to be, a response. In sum: What precisely is Existentialism and what does it respond to? AND, Existentialism and the Body (in general)..

Scope of the Module – Second Objective. Following on from this, the second objective of the module is to introduce students to Courtney Myers’s “Interview with a Cyborg,” Stefan Greiner’s “Cyborg Bodies – Self-Reflections on Sensory Augmentations,” and Lissette Olivares’s “Hacking the Body and Posthumanist Transbecoming: 10,000 Generations Later as the Mestizaje of Speculative Cyborg Feminism and Significant Otherness.” This is done in the interest of helping students to identify the different echoes and reflections of existentialism in contemporary cultural dynamics. In sum: How does Existentialism look in relation to contemporary cultural dynamics. And one of the most important dynamics today is our ubiquitous information technology landscape and how it has altered our perceptions of our bodies – and how this may make us feel. (Existentialism, the Body and Technology together)..

Scope of the Module – Third Objective. Finally, the third objective of the module is to introduce students to Carl Gustav Jung’s intimation in “Christ, a symbol of the self” in Aion – Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self that “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate” (1968: 71). In relation to this challenge by Jung, we ask: What if one can’t find authentic existential expression and meaning due to distortions of thought one is unaware of? To explore the idea of the potential distortions of thought to which we may be subject to, we turn to contemporary thinking focused generally on the idea of trauma, and specifically to Heidi Priebe’s video series on Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or CPTSD). Examining the features of the CPTSD neural net and the co-related features of the various (troubling) attachment styles to the world generated by this net, we consider that awareness of such thought distortions produced by trauma (or “making the unconscious conscious”) can allow for a more secure, and ultimately, productive, meaningful and existentially honest encounter with the world. In doing so, we also encounter the exciting and powerful concept of neuroplasticity. In sum: Introduction to theory around trauma and how trauma could impact our existential quests..

Link to the BA (MCC). LMCV202: Cultural Studies: Contemporary Society (b) is a compulsory module in the BA Media, Communication and Culture programme, and is one of the six cultural studies modules for students studying the (new) BA MCC degree. That is, it builds on the theory and practice learned in LMCV105, LMCV106, and LMCV201, and leads into the theory and practice of LMCV309 and LMCV312. The focus of the module is on facilitating the development of students’ critical and analytical skills within the discipline of cultural studies..

Plagiarism and AI. 10 Turnitin: All work must be submitted through Turnitin, so that a similarity index can be generated. This Turnitin report must accompany the submission of your assignment. However, please note that a similarity report of 30% or more is unacceptable, and any such similarity reports will have to be reduced to below 30% before the work in question can be marked. Please also note that Turnitin can detect AI-generated content, and provides a percentage score for AI usage. AI-generated answers will not be marked..

Assessments. Evaluation for the module will take the form of two assignments that you will write during the semester and one end-of-module written examination that you will write at the end of the semester. Together, the assignments will count 100% of your class mark (50% for each assignment), and your class mark, in turn, will count 50% of your final mark. The end-of-module written examination will make up the remaining 50% of your final mark. A1: DUE – Wednesday, 3 September 2025: To be submitted for grading via Funda with a Turnitin similarity report before 23:00. A2: DUE – Wednesday, 15 October 2025: To be submitted for grading via Funda with a Turnitin similarity report before 23:00..

Course Outline:. Lecture 1: Introduction to Module and Bigelow (What is Existentialism?) Lecture 2 to 6: Longhurst and his colleagues’ Chapter 8 “Cultured Bodies” (Bodies, Bodies and Technology) Lecture 6: Essay One Workshop Lecture 7 to 8: Academic Articles on Cyborgism (the Body and Technology) Lectures 9 to 10: Academic Articles on Trauma Lecture 11: Essay Two Workshop Lecture 12: Exam Workshop.

Recap before the Bigelow article:. Remember, our objective for this module is essentially to: Learn about what Existentialism is (search for meaning) Apply existentialism to the body Apply existentialism to the body and technology Think about the role of trauma getting in the way of this search for meaning So, today, we begin with learning about what Existentialism is via Bigelow.

Gordon E. Bigelow’s “A Primer of Existentialism” (pp. 171-178) [access through the university library’s FindPlus].

Bigelow Summary. How do we find meaning? Two types of Existentialism: The Ungodly and the Godly The Ungodly (Satre, Camus, de Beauvoir) The Godly (Kierkegaard) Behind both is a deep philosophical base: Pascal, Nietzsche, Bergson, Heidegger, Jaspers AND a literary base: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky For the ungodly, meaning is found in the “indomitable human spirit” and in the “ability to say NO” (I.e. No, I do not accept your/societal meaning about me, I make my own meaning) Meaning is subjective experience.

Bigelow Summary:. Six Major Themes of Existentialism: Existence before Essence Reason is Impotent to deal with the depths of human life Alienation or Estrangement (from God, nature, other men, one’s own true self) Anxiety The Encounter with Nothingness Freedom (in a way, this is a response to the above themes).

Bigelow. We now read the text together..