Handbook

This course is about the power of words, stories and images to inform, persuade, unite and divide. Studying a range of theories and a small number of case studies, we ask: What is the potential for narratives to serve as rallying points for social groups? How do these groups adapt these narratives and the institutions which maintain them according to changing needs and concerns? What constitutes offence on the page, and how might communication be strategically suppressed as a result? How are old and new communication technologies put to use in the battle of narratives? Materials studied may include political treatises, propaganda posters, novels, documentaries, feature films, anthologies of soldiers’ writings, and various forms of Social Media.