戰爭與媒介:歷史、技 術、文化

[中文課程簡介向下拉] Media technologies have been symbiotic with the development of modern warfare. Cinema, photography, radio, telegraph, prints, and even video games not only represent the reality of warfare but also serve as the infrastructures that communicate, orient, and mobilize audiences and soldiers on and off the battleground. The war-media complex, one may say, is the defining condition of our sensorial experiences with modernity. This graduate seminar explores the technical-cultural ensemble between war and media by tracing its historical development, technological innovation, and various forms of genres and aesthetics. From the air reconnaissance balloon in 18th century France to the Cold War antiaircraft cybernetics developed in MIT, from the radio stenography of Nazi Germany to the use of loudspeakers across the Taiwan Strait, we will trace some of the key historical moments when media technologies were directly influenced by warring conditions. We will also familiarize ourselves with a variety of audial, visual, and narrative genres rooted in military campaign and political propaganda, as we inquire into the aesthetic transformation of media between propaganda instrumentality and artistic creativity. How, for example, did Hollywood filmmakers respond to the U.S.’s involvement in The Asia-Pacific Theater during WWII, and how did their wartime engagement inform their view on postwar entertainment? How did Hong Kong’s radio novel, broadcasted via UK’s radio infrastructure, create a series of new trans-medial urban genres during the long Cold War era? How did game-play simulation and its first-person-narrative mode inform the “surgical operation” in contemporary military training? The media aesthetics of warfare, therefore, demand us to delve into the intertwined questions regarding warfare mentality, technological determination, and the role of aesthetic sensibilities. This is a reading-intense course coupled with screenings and archival activities. It is open to graduate-level students with interests in film/media studies, war and military history, and contemporary cultural theories related to both. 媒介技術與戰爭行為是現代性感官經驗的一體兩面。從電影、攝影、電報、廣播、繪畫、文學,以至於網路遊戲,媒介不僅再現了戰爭,更扮演實際動員與宣傳戰爭的基礎設施。本課程從台灣、東亞、到世界等不同歷史時空,探討「戰爭-媒介」此一文化技術綜合體對敘事模式與美學形式的若干影響及擾動,並試圖探問在戰爭動員之外,媒介使用者或創作者的自由可能。 本課程以文獻閱讀討論為主,搭配參訪活動(新竹帝國海軍第六燃料場、黑蝙蝠中隊文物館等、新竹科學園區探索館)與電影放映。歡迎對電影與媒介研究、戰爭軍事史、批判理論有興趣之同學選修。

英文閱讀能力 Reading Proficiency in English

1. Regular attendance and active in-class participation: Thoughtful and timely completion of weekly readings/viewing/listening. 2. Bi-weekly Readings notes (300 words with 2 questions.), to be posted on NYCU’s New E3 forum by 6:00 pm Wednesday, so that everyone can read it before the class. 閱讀札記/兩週一次 3. Presentations: Everyone needs to do 2 Presentations related to the weekly reading/viewing/listening materials. We can accommodate 2 presenters at most for each meeting.

時間

By Appointment

聯絡方式

knulpyang@nycu.edu.tw