‘The personal is political’ is a phrase that is often attributed to the Civil rights worker and a feminist activist, Carol Hanisch. Hanisch argued that the personal experiences of women were rooted in their political situation and in gender inequality and, because of that, these experiences were inseparable from the larger social and political structures governing their lives. Using this axiom as it’s basis, the Political Storytelling module encourages you to engage with the personal stories of individuals as a means of understanding the larger political stories, of which these narratives are part.

Through the development of strong research skills, you will undertake a focused piece of academic study. You will engage with historic and contemporary research and will be expected to engage with discourse analysis of a story chosen by you, that illustrates the intersection between the personal and the political, regardless of the medium chosen.

There will also be a number of study and academic skills sessions to prepare you for Level 5 learning.

All individually assessed:

ASSESSMENT 1: The portfolio should include an archive of research materials related to the story that is being analysed. [LO2,3]


ASSESSMENT 2: This material from assessment 1 will then form the basis for the 2,000 word analysis that scrutinises the ways in which the story functions. [LO1,4]

This module is taught using a combination of talks, screenings, seminars, workshops and tutorials which will provide an overview of key topics, and opportunities to discuss ideas and concepts in more detail.

DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WAY IN WHICH POLITICAL AND OTHER AUTHORITIES HAVE SOUGHT TO CONTROL, HARNESS AND CURB THE POWER OF THE MEDIA IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS AND FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES.

UNDERTAKE INDEPENDENT RESEARCH IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT MODES OF STORYTELLING CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVER ARCHING NARRATIVE

THROUGH ANALYSIS, DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WAYS IN WHICH POLITICAL STORIES ARE CIRCULUATED, AND BE CRCITICAL OF THEIR PURPOSE.

COMMUNICATE CLEARLY AND EFFECTIVELY IDEAS AND ISSUES PERTAINING TO POLITICAL STORYTELLING

Library facilities including computer access, printing facilities, and the web

VLE

Mixed mode teaching spaces

For an up-to-date list of texts for this module, see the module reading list on KeyLinks


Ackroyd, J (2010) Performing Research. Trentham Books

Barclay, Donald A. (2018) Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Barker, Martin (2011) A 'Toxic Genre': The Iraq War Films. London: Pluto Press.

Bogle, Donald (2016) Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. 5th ed. New York: Continuum.

Brownstein, Ronald (1990) The Power and the Glitter: The Hollywood-Washington Connection. New York: Random House.

Giglio, Ernest (2014) Here’s Looking at You: Hollywood, Film and Politics. 4th ed. New York: Peter Lang.

Jeffords, Susan (1994) Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era. New York: Rutgers University Press.

Kellner, Douglas and Ryan, Michael (1988) Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film. Indiana: Indiana University Press.

Ross, Steve (2011) Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press USA.

Sklar, Robert (1975) Movie Made America: A Social History of American Movies. New York: Random House.

Summerskill, C (2020). Creating Verbatim Theatre from Oral Histories. Routledge

Toplin, Robert. (2010) History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past. 2d ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Stories can be highly political in nature. This module will allow you to explore how personal stories can become political ones across theatre, film and literature.