Literary Culture and Media Studies

Unit 1 course aims to explain some fundamental aspects of modern Mass-media Society, focusing on its evolution and on some basic dynamics. In particular, we will focus on very different categories, even if apparently overlapping, such as Mass Culture, Cultural Industry, Mainstream. Unit 2 has the objective of developing a critical awareness of the profound changes generated by a reality today perceived as obvious: that of the Network, and more specifically of the so-called Web 2.0. Some fundamental phenomena will be studied, in order to perceive how the Web offers at the same time great opportunities and equally great risks.

The student shall be capable to understand and explain the basic dynamics of the most important Mass-media, and of the network society, both from a socio-economic point of view and from the point of view of the communication modes.