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American Studies 2022    Winter 2011     Mon: 1:00-3:55 pm (includes tutorial)     Rm: KK 501a For secured files: USERNAME=hku PASSWORD=literatures

Dr. Kendall Johnson      kjohnson [@] hku.hk      Office Hours: Wed. 2-4 pm, and by appointment      Office: 819 K.K. Leung Building

"Television: chewing gum for the eyes."
    ~Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect

Whether we think of television as an empty way of merely passing time or as a respectable form of artistic expression, it has undoubtedly had a profound impact on American society. This course considers the depiction of men, women, and families in American television over the past sixty years. As we watch these popular and award-winning tv shows, we will consider how television programming has reflected changes in American society regarding the gender of work, love, and sex in the twentieth century. How does television use and revise stereotypes about race and culture? How do historical events show up in the fictional worlds? Does the drama, humor, and suspense of these shows hold up over time and does it translates to audiences outside the United States? We will also consider the coverage of United States presidential election, thinking about ways that the TV industry writes our news stories as it reports on them.

In order to develop a historical context for our discussions, we will read Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly (1852), whose political themes, character stereotypes and techniques of narrative development have proven greatly influential for the small screen.

• Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly (1852); Penguin edition;
  ISBN: 978-0140390032 HKU Library call number: 814.1 S89 C3 um
  
  
• Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983; 2006)
  [Verso; ISBN: 978-1844670864;] HKU Library call number: 320.54 A54

• Benedict Anderson, Chapters 1-3, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983; 2006)
  
• John Locke, Chapters 1-5, Second Treatise of Government (1690); Simon and Schuster, (Edited by Peardon) ISBN: 978-0023933004; On-line version at Project Gutenberg
• Herman Melville, "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street" (1853), The Piazza Tales (1856), pp. 19-65.
• Mary Ann Watson, "Television and the Presidency: Eisenhower and Kennedy," in The Columbia History of American Television, edited by Gary R. Edgerton: 205-234.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) from Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
• Karl Marx, on the "fetishism of commodities," from Chapter 1, Section 4 of Capitol, Volume 1 (1867),
  or as a PDF: "The Commodity," From Capitol (1867)
• Chapter 1 and Chapter 5 of John Locke, Second Treatise on Government (1690)
  
• Ernest Renan, "What is a Nation?" (Lecture at La Sorbonne, University of Paris, 11 March 1882)
• Chapters 1-3 of Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983; 2006)
• Sigmund Freud, "Fetishism" (1927)
• Jacques Lacan, "The Mirror Stage"
• Norman Bryson, "The Gaze in an Expanded Field" (1988)
• Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Appartatuses..." (1970): Part I and Part II
• Timonthy Corrigan and Patricia White, "Glossary" from The Film Experience: An Introduction (2004)
• Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Appartatuses..." (1970): Part I and Part II

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

• Attendance and participation in course sessions: Scheduled meeting times will consist of both lecture on and discussion of assigned reading. It is your responsibility to study the assigned material before class meetings and be able to explain what it felt like to watch or read the material.
  
  Each session I will pass around an attendance sheet. Please be sure to sign it. Unexcused absences will adversely affect your final grade.
  
  
• Short response papers: The goal of this course includes the development of your ability to analyze both the themes of American literature and culture, as well as the forms of these stories. How do stories begin, unfold, end, and how do the technologies of print and video affect the structure of their narrative development, crisis, and resolution?
  
  Approximately every other week, I will ask you to write a short paper (1-2 pages) that addresses a specific question about the material we are discussing.
  
  
• Midterm Exam and Essay: 1,500 words (approximately 5 pages). This paper can be an expansion of one of your response papers. It should have a thesis and make an argument that interprets a text that we have discussed in class.
  
  
• Final Exam and Paper: 1,500 to 2,000 words (5-7 pages).

COURSE OBJECTIVES and LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Practice and refine powers of critical analysis as well written and verbal communication in the analysis of video texts that reflect influential characters and stereotypes relating to class, race, gender and sexuality in the twentieth-century United Sates.
  
  
• Develop confidence in methods of responding in writing and conversation to the television programming in ways that relate narrative content to historical context in which the television industry has developed and continues promote its programming in the United States.
  
  
• Define the concept of television in ways that situate it historically and in relation to American cinema, theater, vaudeville and minstrel shows, to other preceding technologies (such as telegraphy and telephony) and to subsequent video technologies related to the internet.
  
  
• Understand the corporate develeopment of the television industry in ways that relate to major world historical events of the twentieth century
  
  
• Speculate on ways in which television as a medium and as a social institution has affected narrative techniques and modes of public communication; for example, students will be able to relate the generic qualities of the "situation comedy" to the social and economic dimensions of television.
  
  
• To recognize the ways that American televsion has recycled, revised, and transformed stereotypes of race, class, and gender from the past two centuries.
  
  
• Define and analyze the concepts of gender, race, class and sexuality as they are reflected in the television programming that we will watch and discuss.
  
  
• Apply important theoretical concepts such as "nationalism," "globalization," "ideology" and "stereotype" in the analysis of televised narrative and the television media.
  
  
• Demonstrate how consideration of a text's immediate and potential extended audiences are important factors in the interpretation of that text.
  
  
• Cultivate the enjoyment of intellectual experience in everyday life and continue to broaden students' capacity to interpret texts across a range of discplines, including but not limited to literature, history, geography, science, and the arts.

WEEK 1	A Short History of Television: "Magic in the Air" (General Motors; 1911) from Vintage Television Film Collection "Television Tomorrow," Army, Navy Screen Magazine and Part II (circa 1945) Television's debut: "World of Tomorrow" World's Fair, New York City, 1939 General Motors Futurama (1939) Part I | Part II How is television similar to and different from newspapers, radio, the cinema, the internet? Genres of television: the situation comedy, romance, realism, melodrama and the effect of serialization on narrative development Excerpts from The Honeymooners, TV or Not TV (1 October 1955) MAPS: New York City, Manhattan | Five New York Boroughs | United States (48 of the 50 states) | Western hemisphere Readings: Karl Marx, on the "fetishism of commodities," from Chapter 1, Section 4 of Capitol, Volume 1 (1867), or as a PDF: "The Commodity," From Capitol (1867) Response Paper #1 Due at start of next class The Honeymooners (1955-56)
WEEK 2	Husbands and Wives in Twentieth-century Television The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Sick Boy and the Sitter (Filmed 20 Jan, 1961; Aired 3 October 1961) The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dear Sally Rogers (Filmed 11 January 1966; Aired 23 February 1966) Suburbs and Redlining in the United States: Federal Housing Authority (FHA) policies (1930s-1960s) "Redlining in Philadelphia," Amy Hillier (University of Pennsylvania) Readings: Chapter 1-3 of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly (1852); Here is an electronic edition of the novel from the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. Chapter 1 and Chapter 5 of John Locke, Second Treatise on Government (1690) Ernest Renan, "What is a Nation?" (Lecture at La Sorbonne, University of Paris, 11 March 1882) Chapters 1-3 of Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983; 2006) The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution from Henry Steele Commager's Documents of American History Response Paper #2 Due next class The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66)
WEEK 3	Husbands and Wives, continued... All in the Family, Season 1, Episode 2: "Writing the President" (1970) All in the Family, Season 1, Episode 4: "Judging Books by Covers" (1970) News coverage of key historical moments: Eisenhower for President (1952) Eisenhower for President, II (1952) Eisenhower for President, III (1952) Army-McCarthy Hearings; exchange between Mr. Welch and Senator Joe McCarthy 9 June 1954, Washington, DC Assassination of John F. Kennedy, November 22, 1963, CBS news bulletins First television bulletin announcing JFK assassination Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., 4 April 1968, announced on CBS News, Walter Cronkite Robert F. Kennedy presidential advertisement (1868; directed by John Frankenheimer). Robert F. Kennedy announces assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Indianapolis, Indiana (4 April, 1868). Jackie Gleason for Richard Nixon Presidency(1868). Moon Landing, 20 July 1969: Walter Conkrite (CBS News) and his coverage of the lunar landing Readings: Sigmund Freud, "Fetishism" (1927) Jacques Lacan, "The Mirror Stage" Norman Bryson, "The Gaze in an Expanded Field" (1988) Response Paper #3 Due next class All in the Family (1970-79)
WEEK 4	2008 Presidential Election Richard Nixon vs. John F. Kennedy Debates, 1960 Presidential Election The 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions Barack Obama's Nomination Acceptance Speech (Denver, Colorado) John McCain's Nomination Acceptance Speech Readings: Mary Ann Watson, "Television and the Presidency: Eisenhower and Kennedy," in The Columbia History of American Television, edited by Gary R. Edgerton: 205-234. Response Paper #4: Choose a passage from Uncle Tom's Cabin that captures a stereotype about being a man or a woman in the nineteenth century United States. Relate this passage to a character in a television show that we have watched this semester. Due next class
Holiday	No Class: Holiday-- Continue reading Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
WEEK 5	Racial Stereotypes and American TV The National Association of Colored Persons (NAACP) versus Amos 'n Andy ["Call Lehigh 4-9900" (21 February 1952)] The Beulah Show (1950-52); The Jack Benny Programme (1950-65); Julia (1968-1971) All in the Family (1970-79), Season 1, Episode 8: "Lionel Moves into the Neighborhood" (2 March 1971) The Jeffersons (1975-1985), Season 1, Episode 1: "A Friend in Need" (18 January 1975) Good Times (1974-1979), Season 1, Episode 1: "Getting Up the Rent" (8 February 1874) The Cosby Show (1984-1992), Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot episode(20 September 1984) continue Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly (1852) Suggestions for your Midterm Essay (essay due by Friday March 11 by 5 pm) Useful terms: from Timonthy Corrigan and Patricia White, "Glossary" of The Film Experience: An Introduction (2004) The Jeffersons (1975-1985) Good Times (1975-1985) The Cosby Show (1984-1992)
WEEK 6	Racial Sterotypes II Bamboozled (Spike Lee; 2000) Finish Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
Reading Week M. February 28:	No Class: Reading Week
WEEK 7	The TV Western Gunsmoke (CBS; 1955-75) Season 1, Episode 1, 10 September 1955: "Matt Gets It", Part 1 | Part II Part III Bonanza (NBC; 1959-1973), Season 1, Episode 1, 12 September 1959: A Rose for Lotta (part 1) Little House on the Prairie(NBC; 1974-82) Season 1, Episode 21: "Survival" (26 February 1975) Readings: Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Appartatuses..." (1970): Part I and Part II Captivity narrative episode of Little House on the Prairie
WEEK 8	Sex, Gender, and the Single Women The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Episode 1: "Love is All Around" (19 September 1970) The Mary Tyler Moore Show Episode 2: "Today I am a Ma'am" (26 September 1970) Sex and the City, Season 1, Episode 1: "Sex and the City" (6 June 1998) Sex and the City, Season, 1, Episode 3: "Bay of Married Pigs" (21 June 1998) Readings: Sigmund Freud, "The Uncanny" (1919) The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77)
WEEK 9	Sex, Gender and Single Men Seinfeld, Season 4, Episode 11: "The Contest" (18 November 1992) The Office, Season 1, Episode 6: "Hot Girl" (26 April 2005) Season 3, Episode 7: "Branch Closing" (9 November 2006) Readings: Herman Melville, "Bartleby" (November, December 1853) Seinfeld (1989-1998) Titian, Manet, Beaux, Magritte
WEEK 10	Saving the Cheerleader to Save the World: Globalizing Patriotism after 9/11 Heroes (2006-present) Readings: Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle (1967; New York: Zone Book, 1994), p. 153 Suggestions for your Final Essay (essay is due on Friday April 29 by 5 pm) Heroes (2006-2010)
WEEK 11	Remembering New York: the National Melancholy of Post 9/11 TV Mad Men (2007-present) Readings: Sigmund Freud, "On Mourning and Melanchola" (1917)
WEEK 12	Saving Baltimore: Post-Industrial Segregation and the American City The Wire (David Simon and Ed Burns; 2002-08) Dragnet (Jack Webb; 1951-59) Season 1, Episode 1: "The Human Bomb", 16 December 1951 Season 2, Episode 4: "The Big Seventeen" (6 November 1952) Season 4, Episode 3: "The Big Crime" (9 September 1954) Readings: Jim Tyree, "The Wire: The Complete 4th Season," Film Quarterly (2008) Marsha Kinder, "Re-wiring Baltimore: The Emotive Power of Systemics, Seriality and the City," Film Quarterly (2008/09) Ben Walters, "The Wire for Tourists," Film Quarterly (2008/09) Sudhir Venkatesh "What Do Real Thugs Think of The Wire?" Freakanomics blog of The New York Time (9 January 2008 - 10 March 2008) Excerpts from Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (French, 1975; trans. 1977); pp. 1-47, 200-09, 231-46, 298-308	The Wire (2002-2008)
WEEK 13	Wrap up class and brainstorming for the final.