Disruptive Narratives: Re-Constructing the Truth in the Age of Multimodal Propaganda
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Disruptive Narratives: Re-Constructing the Truth in the Age of Multimodal Propaganda Research (Track I) Course on Fact-Based Narratives (FBN) OSUN Summer Course, 2021 Online course Course Director: György Túry, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Institute of Communication and Media Studies, Budapest Metropolitan University/Resident Fellow, CEU CMDS Co-Directors: András Bozóki, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Political Science, CEU and Gregory Joseph Lobo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Languages and Culture, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia (OSUN) Core Faculty: Ian Buruma, Bard College, USA (OSUN) Sonja Merljak Zdovc, Slovenia Almira Ousmanova, European Humanities University, Lithuania (OSUN) Patricia Poblete Alday, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Chile Guest Speakers (pending availability): Jászberényi Sándor, Egypt/Hungary Oscar Martínez, El Salvador Witold Szabłowski, Poland Marcela Turati, Mexico Vágvölgyi B. András, Hungary Course Schedule June 21, Topic No. 1 Introduction Monday, 2021 Faculty members Lobo, Ousmanova, Túry Number of hours 4 Teaching Mode Pre-recorded and live lecture, presentations (with visuals), group and small group discussions (use of break-out rooms), close reading and text analysis (both synchronous and asynchronous), individual and small group work (4 hrs) Discussion Points This module introduces participants to the issues that lie at the heart of our research on fact-based narratives, which have to do with representation but also and necessarily meaning, truth and belief. Meaning encompasses truth and belief and indeed, meaning moves people. This module initiates a discussion among participants on what makes sentences and discourse meaningful, which will include a discussion on authorship, authorization and authority. This discussion is predicated on familiarity with a reading list that draws on philosophy and its appropriations by theorists working across numerous disciplines. According to some theories of meaning, meaning is immanent or inherent in well-constructed linguistic propositions or sentences. And yet some people find well-constructed sentences incomprehensible, while others find not only evident but obvious meaning in disarticulated expressions that seem to give voice more to inner confusion than represent rational thinking. Additionally, often meaning is evident at the level of syntax and grammar while being elusive with respect to the referential world, even though the discourse purports to index such a world. This discussion will focus on the role of authority in authorizing meaning, rather than on the unique role of language as such, and explore the notion of authorship as authority. What is the nature of meaning? Is meaning immanent, inherent, what? What is the relationship between authority and meaning? Is the authority of authorship a factor? Is it open to all? What is the relationship between authorities and authorization of meaning? Who are the authorities today? What does meaning do? Readings: Berger, Peter, and Thomas Luckmann. “The Foundations of Knowledge in Everyday Life.” The Social Construction of Reality, Penguin, 1966, pp. 31–62. Geertz, Clifford. “Ideology as a Cultural System.” The Interpretation of Cultures, Basic Books, 1973, pp. 193–233. [193-196; 208-220; 230- 233] 2 Gilbert, Daniel T. “How Mental Systems Believe.” American Psychologist, vol. 46, no. 2, 1991, pp. 107–19. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.1037/0003-066X.46.2.107. June 21, Topic No. 3 Practice in Focus: Disruptive Narratives Around the Globe I. Monday, 2021 Faculty members Buruma, Merljak Zdovc, Martínez, Turati Number of hours 1+1 Teaching Mode Pre-recorded and live lecture & presentation, live Q&A session Discussion Points In this class, one of the living leading practitioners of the genre, Ian Buruma, and our guest speakers (including women and authors from the Global South) will talk about their initiation into the genre of fact- based narratives, the major influences on them and the first phases of their careers. Participants will learn more about the global historical and political contexts in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in which some of them found their own inimitable voices. They will also talk about the publishing industry of fact-based narratives, this time, once again, concentrating on the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s (the pre-Internet age). Readings: Selection of relevant works by faculty members June 22, Topic No. 2 Disruptive Narratives in East- and Central-Europe: the pre-1989 Era Tuesday, and the Transition Period 2021 Faculty members Bozóki, Merljak Zdovc, Ousmanova, Túry Number of hours 4 + 1 (+ optional extracurricular activity [film screening]) Teaching Mode Pre-recorded and live lecture, presentations (with visuals), group and small group discussions (use of break-out rooms), close reading and text analysis (both synchronous and asynchronous), individual and small group work (4 hrs), live roundtable (1 hr). 3 Discussion Points State-sponsored propaganda, censorship, lack of oppositional political parties, infringed human rights, block of information, ban on travel, surveillance: some of the harsh realities for hundreds of millions in the communist countries. How was it possible to a) represent reality and ii) eventually fight the system? How did oppositional, fact-based narratives contribute to the dismantling of the communist system? In these classes we will discuss the above points, concentrating on the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, and the former Yugoslavia (esp. Slovenia). In particular, we will look at texts (fact-based narratives) that, despite the overall presence of censorship, managed to faithfully represent reality, opening the eyes of a growing number of people in those countries. As Polish author Krzysztof Kakolewski remarks, in fact-based narratives fabula is discovered, not invented (in clear contrast with fictional narratives). That discovery and the narrative presentation of the facts based on them will be shown to have meaningfully contributed to resisting the oppressive system of communism, leading up to the annus mirabilis of 1989 and, more broadly, the so-called transition years. The topics above will be dealt with via reading and close analysis of primary texts from the era. Secondary literature, shorter lectures, and multimedia presentations by faculty will help participants better understand the historical, political, and cultural contexts. Primary texts to be discussed in class will include writings by: ◼ Ales Adamovich ◼ Svetlana Alexievich ◼ Ryszard Kapuscinski ◼ Hanna Krall ◼ Zeljko Kozinc The one-hour roundtable presentation and discussion will be an integral element of the topic. Faculty member and CEU Professor András Bozóki will be in conversation with guest speaker András Vágvölgyi (both Pulitzer Prize-winning founding editors of the legendary transition-era Hungarian journal Magyar Narancs), moderated by course director György Túry. The optional program will be a film screening with an introduction and discussion by faculty member Almira Ousmanova (Come and See, 1985, written by Klimov and Adamovich). June 23, Topic No. 4 Disruptive Narratives in East- and Central-Europe: the post-1989 Wednesday, Era and the Present 2021 Faculty members Bozóki, Merljak Zdovc, Ousmanova, Túry, Number of hours 4 + 1 + 1 Teaching Mode Pre-recorded and live lecture, presentations (with visuals), group and small group discussions (use of break-out rooms), close reading and text analysis (both synchronous and asynchronous), 4 individual and small group work (4 hrs); guest speakers, live (pending availability, 1 + 1 hr). Discussion Points In the global, English language academic scholarship the post- 1989 era is an undiscovered gold mine in terms of East- and Central-European fact-based narratives. We will look at ways in which the post-communist experience was reflected, once again concentrating on the (dissolving) Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. Shorter lectures and presentations of faculty members will help participants better see the contours of the fast-changing environment of the post-communist (and illiberal) world. We will take advantage, for example, of the deep familiarity of faculty member Almira Ousmanova with the oeuvre of Nobel prize winner Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich. In the 1990s the Balkan wars were covered by many local authors, for example Slovenian, but also by Hungarian ones (a memorable field trip of Hungarian authors included, as crew member, iconic counter-cultural hero Allen Ginsberg). András Bozóki will explore how fact-based narratives might still challenge the illiberal aspects of national, regional and global narratives about the current pandemic that will shape our lives in the years to come, especially in the East- and Central-European region. These disruptive narratives might be the only counterweight against unprecedented scenarios emerging in the post-pandemic times such as ”big data authoritarianism,” ”health terror,” and new forms of ”bio-power.” Primary texts to be discussed in class will include writings by: ◼ Svetlana Alexievich ◼ Jacek Hugo-Bader ◼ Sándor Jászberényi ◼ Noémi Kiss ◼ Zeljko Kozinc ◼ Witold Szablowski June 24, Topic No. 5 Disruptive Narratives Latin America I Thursday, 2021 Faculty members Lobo, Poblete Number of hours 2+2 Teaching Mode Pre-recorded and live lecture, presentations (with visuals), group and small group discussions (use of break-out rooms), close reading and text analysis (both synchronous and asynchronous), individual and small group work (2+2 hrs) 5 Discussion