Today, readers engage with media content that crosses multiple media formats. They consume transmedia. They are denizens of transmedia culture. And, in the context of this seminar, they are the denizens of Australian transmedia culture; although national culture and transmedia are anathema. This content (information, narrative, films, visuals, sound, music, stories, characters, story-worlds) – converges in and unfolds through a spectrum of different media and their platforms.
The global transmedia phenomenon has led to the flourishing of transmedia studies in departments and schools across the academy, including departments focussing on literature, culture, film, and Australian Studies, such as ours. In this seminar, you will learn about various aspects of transmediality, how these aspects can be understood and studied, and which impact transmedia culture has. Drawing on methodologies for studying convergent media across multiple platforms, the focus of this seminar is on contemporary Australian artistic production and the analysis of its specific transmedia meaning-making processes. Special emphasis is placed on the intersection, convergence, and dialogic relationships between different media and their engagement with issues of identity, migration, politics of belonging, and the nation.
The seminar analyses how writers, artists, and creators utilise different media to express their stories and ideas. Transmedia studies often involves examining how themes, narratives, and aesthetics transcend individual media formats and extend across platforms. In this context, participants will explore how visual art, music, and narrative intersect and contribute to a deeper understanding of the cultural product and its context. Such an interdisciplinary approach can provide valuable insights into the interconnectedness of artistic expression and communication.
Under the rubric of transmedia studies, this seminar engages with different (trans)media – including visual (comics, paintings, music videos, illustrations, photography etc.), sound (aural) (spoken word poetry, hip-hop, rap, and death metal music, etc.), and textual (trans)media (poetry, narrative, essay, academic writing, etc.). The work by two practitioners, Safdar Ahmed and Omar Musa, traverses different media and stands at the centre of this seminar along with Hoda Afshar’s photo series. The seminar will also engage with works by aboriginal artists including Kaylene Whiskey, Tracey Moffat, Tony Albert, and Vincent Namatjira.
This class is part of a projected online MA in Australian Studies. Therefore, some of the sessions will not take place in the classroom but will be taught asynchronously. Details can be found out in the first seminar session.
- Lehrende/r: Yashka Chavan
- Lehrende/r: Nina Greta Hattrup
- Lehrende/r: Eva Larisch
- Lehrende/r: Mark U. Stein