36M:627 Media Theory: Media and Conversation

Spring Semester 2002, University of Iowa
Prof. John Durham Peters
Office: 125 BCSB, Phone: 353-2258 (voice mail)
e-mail: jdpeters@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu

Office Hours: Thursdays 10:30-11:25, Fridays TBA, and by appointment. Right before class is, unfortunately, not good this semester, due to preparation pressures.

Brief Overview

            The reigning theory of public communication in the Anglo-American world is a liberal one. It envisions the public sphere as a bazaar of criss-crossing discourses and enjoins a stony self-abstraction on the part of the citizen-subject. Communitarians, in contrast, favor dialogue in communication and engagement on the part of citizens. Poststructuralists see the public realm awash in the plague of fantasies (including that of the citizen-subject), and critical race theorists and some feminists instead see the erasure of human dignity. Various Christians, Jews, and Muslims see irresponsibility and idolatry in liberal circulation of public discourse. (The liberals at least must be happy to see the diversity of visions.)

            This course pursues media theory by asking about the pragmatics of how media sustain or complicate discourse in public life. We will study some classic texts of liberal theory--texts which also have an inherent value and carry the assurance that people will be reading them a century from now, which one can't say of most of what is published in the field's journals--for their visions of communication. Then we will examine dissidents from the liberal narrative--thinkers interested in (1) the pragmatic chaos of discourse on a large scale, (2) the erasures of race, and (3) the troubles of gender. Our task will be to try to figure out where to come down in all this hubbub.

            This course is a seminar, meaning that interests of the students will help shape the flow and direction of the discussion. It aims to immerse students in important theories, and also, in the course, to help school them in critical-historical methods of scholarship.

Requirements

1. A substantial seminar paper, around 25 pp. or so. This could serve as the first draft of an article for publication, a conference paper, a dissertation chapter, or better yet, it could simply be a major project that you have been wanting to do for a long time. Attached is a list suggesting some possible topics: each topic should be carefully thought out and crafted by you. I am looking for original, imaginative, audacious, bold, novel, thoughtful, visionary and well-written work (to make my expectations explicit). Link theoretical questions with particular dramas, fields, and metaphors. Infuse your thinking and analysis with a historical sensibility. Tackle topics that perplex and fascinate and exceed you. Find fresh angles and mini-dramas that anchor your argument. Defy the ruling orthodoxies (whatever they are for you). In doing the reading in class, we will intermittently step back to examine the techniques of craft and quality evidenced in our readings, hopefully for guidance in the art of scholarship. I'd be happy to look at drafts and otherwise help you develop your papers. I'd encourage you to work on your topic throughout the semester and bring up your discoveries, as relevant, in class discussion.

2. Oral presentation of your paper in the final weeks of class, with time for discussion.

3. A statement of your proposed topic, due by Lincoln's Birthday (12 February). Please start brainstorming at once. Please feel free to chat with me about your potential ideas and to keep an open mind before you commit to something (read ahead in books for ideas).

4. A book review of some relevant book or cluster of articles. A spotty list is attached. Since this incarnation of the course does not deal in any depth with the history or roots of notions of public and private, this is a chance to enrich your historical sense. Use this as an opportunity to read a book you have been wanting to read anyway; choose a book that will be helpful for your seminar paper. (Statement also due 12 Feb.) Due 12 March, by beginning of class.

5. Active participation in discussion, including possible leading of a session (such as a report on your book or cluster of articles). This is a seminar--a genre that signals lots of class participation. I will lecture a bit to launch us and keep us on track. How we structure discussion will depend on your interests.

Readings

The following books have been ordered at Iowa Book and Supply (corner of Clinton and Iowa):

I have tried to keep the reading load digestible and focused, so you have time to work on your papers, especially at the end. Depending on class interest, I can organize additional readings on various topics of interest.

Nasty Notice

Although no one ever plans to get an incomplete for a course, I want you actively to plan not to. I will not give incompletes for this course save in the direst of straits (such as the student's death). Plan now to finish on time; the last few weeks have no assignment save to come to class and work on your paper.

Tentative Schedule

Given the somewhat fluid nature of the genre of a seminar, the following schedule may evolve over the course of the course.

January

T 22 Introduction to the Course: Options for Theory Today
            Rec:      Peters, "Mass Communication, Normative Frameworks"

T 29 Current Debates and Issues: Media and Conversation
            Read:    Burke, The Art of Conversation

Schudson, "Why Conversation is not the Soul of Democracy"
                        Williams, "Drama in a Dramatised Society"

February

T 5 Reading Milton (Why Milton is not a liberal)
            Read: Milton, Areopagitica (1644).
            Recommended: Fish, How Milton Works, ch. 5.

T 12 Tough Guys in the Public Sphere?
            Read: Locke, Letter on Toleration (1690).
            Read: Adam Smith, excerpts from Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759, 1761, etc.)
            Rec: Peters on Smith.
            Statement of Paper Topic and Review due.

T 19 Mill: Utilitarian, Radical, Romantic, Stoic, Liberal?
            Read: JS Mill, "Civilization" (1836).
            Read: Mill, On Liberty, parts 1-2 (TBA).

T 26 Mill and his Legacy
            Read: Mill, On Liberty, TBA.
            Read: Mill, The Subjection of Women, TBA.
            Read: Peters on free speech.

March

T 5 Discourse Disjunction, Medical Immobility
            Read: Freud, Jokes.

T 12 The Crazy Discourse of Broadcasting
            Read: Goffman, Forms of Talk, TBA.
            Read: Horton and Wohl, "Parasocial Interaction"
            Read: Scannell, "The Relevance of Talk"

            Book Reviews due.

Spring Break

T 26 Race and (In)visibility
            Read: Ellison, Invisible Man, TBA.
            Rec: Posnock, Color and Culture.

April

T 2 Modernist Communication Breakdown
            Read: Beckett, Krapp's Last Tape.
            Rec: Eliot, The Waste Land.

T 9 Fantasy and Violence
            Read: Butler, Excitable Speech.

T 16 Film: The Conversation (Coppola, 1974).

T 23 Seminar Presentations

T 30 Seminar Presentations

May

T 7 Seminar Presentations

Papers due by 10 May, 3:30 p.m.

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