Introductory description

The transcultural turn at the end of the twentieth century has opened up an exciting new direction for cultural studies in modern foreign languages. Increased global movement of people, goods and ideas means that our understanding of the nation and concepts of national identity have undergone a seismic shift. Emphasising cross-border relations and looking at how concepts 'travel', this transcultural turn has created a heightened awareness of transnational patterns of exchange and affiliation. New technologies and methods of transport have increased the porosity of borders, making it possible to be both here and there. This extends and stretches the range of politics and notions of responsibility.
This course is particularly interested in how concepts are translated, re-interpreted and circulated, within, across and beyond national boundaries. This transcultural approach will flag up similarities and differences between cultures, while also spotlighting the limitations of more traditional readings of national culture as a homogenous entity. Tapping into cross-School research specialisms, it allows students to explore the culture of their choice in a wider context while also offering them an opportunity to gain a more complex understanding of what exactly culture means.
Depending on staff availability, topics will include (but are not limited to): Globalisation and increased mobility
Borders and their porosity Multidirectionality/interrelationships
Concepts in translation
Global and the local
Identity (national identity and citizenship; re-evaluation of concepts of belonging)
Patterns of exchange

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

After an introductory seminar on the topic of trans/nationalism and transcultural approaches,
students will explore up to 5 different themes in further teaching weeks.
Teaching and learning will be focussed on a series of themes related to cultural practice and cultural
production. Depending on staff availability, these will include but are not restricted to:

• Globalisation and increased mobility
• Borders and their porosity
• Multidirectionality/interrelationships
• Concepts in translation
• Global and the local
• Identity (national identity and citizenship; re-evaluation of concepts of belonging)
• Patterns of exchange
  Consolidation and Drop-in session for essay planning at the end of term.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Subject-specifi skills: Evaluate the complex linguistic and cultural implications of the concept of transculturalism and trans/nationalism
• Subject-specific skills: Demonstrate advanced knowledge of key conceptual theory and works in the area
• Cognitive Skills: Use their language specialism and cross-cultural awareness independently to evaluate issues related o transculturalism and trans/nationalism
• Cognitive Skills: Demonstrate advanced skills in critical analysis and originality in relation to texts and concepts
• Key skills: Successfully conceive, plan, and deliver their independent essay to advanced academic standards within the specified deadline.

Indicative reading list

Amin, Ash, Land of Strangers (Cambridge: Polity, 2012)
Antor, Heinz and Matthias Merkel, Klaus Stierstorfer, Laurenz Volkmann, From Interculturalism to
Transculturalism: Mediating Encounters in Cosmopolitan Contexts (Heidelberg: Universitatsverlag
Winter, 2010)
Assmann, Aleida and Sebastian Conrad, eds, Memory in a Global Age: Discourses, Practices and
Trajectories (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
Bachmann Medick, Doris, Cultural turns: New Orientations in the Study of Culture (Berlin: De Gruyter,
2016)
Beck, Ulrich, Cosmopolitan Vision (Cambridge: polity, 2006)
Bond, Lucy and Jessica Rapson, The Transcultural Turn: Interrogating Memory Between and Beyond
Borders (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014)
Boym, svetlana, The Futures of Nostalgia (New York: Basic, 2001)
Castells, Manuel, The Rise of the Network Society, Blackwell, 1996.
Chea, Pheng and Bruce Robbins, eds, Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling Beyond the Nation (Minneapolis
and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1998)
Davis et al., Towards a Transcultural future: Literature and Society in a 'Post'-Colonial World (Amsterdam:
Rodopi, 2005)
De Cesari, Chiara and Ann Rigney, eds, Transnational memory: Circulation, Articulation, Scales (Berlin: De
Gruyter, 2014)
De Gay, Paul and Stuart Hall, Questions of Cultural identity (London: Sage, 1996)
Featherstone, Mike and Scott Lash, Spaces of Culture: City, Nation, World (London: Sage, 1999)
Friesen, John W., When Cultures Clash: Case Studies in Multiculturalism (Calgary: Detselig, 1985).
Gupta, Suman, Globalisation and Literature (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009)
Hall, Stuart, "The Rediscovery of Ideology: The Return of the Repressed in Media Studies" in Culture,
Society and the Media, edited by M. Gurevitch et al. (London: Methuen, 1982), pp. 56-90.
Haupt, Heinz-Gerhard and Jiirgen Kocka, Comparative and Transnational history: central European
Approaches and New Perspectives (New York and Oxford: Berghahn, 2009)
Hepp, Andreas, Transcultural Communication (Chichester: Wiley, 2015)
King, Anthony D., Culture, Globalization and the World System (Binghamton: State University of New York
at Binghamton Press, 1991)
Kymlicka, Will, Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights, Clarendon Press, 1995.
Morley, David and Kuan-Hsig Chen, eds, Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies (London:
Routledge, 1992)
Moses, Dirk A., Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History
(New York and Oxford: Berghahn, 2010)
Rothberg, Michael, Multidirectional Memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonisation
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009)
Shapiro, Michael J. and Hayward R. Alker, eds, Challenging Boundaries (London, Minneapolis: Universisty
of Minnesota Press, 1996)
Taylor, Charles, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1992)

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students’ capacity to engage with aspects of transculturalism through analysis of secondary sources and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of trans/national cultures will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.