CMAf18 Media Authorship, Media Branding, and Cultural Discourses of Creativity

Filozofická fakulta
jaro 2026
Rozsah
2/0. 5 kr. Ukončení: zk.
Vyučováno kontaktně
Vyučující
Dr. Leora Hadas (přednášející), Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D. (zástupce)
Mgr. Petr Veinhauer (pomocník)
Garance
Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D.
Ústav filmu a audiovizuální kultury – Filozofická fakulta
Kontaktní osoba: Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D.
Dodavatelské pracoviště: Ústav filmu a audiovizuální kultury – Filozofická fakulta
Rozvrh
Po 13. 4. 10:00–11:50 C34, Út 14. 4. 12:00–13:50 C34, St 15. 4. 14:00–17:50 C34, Čt 16. 4. 12:00–15:50 C34
  • Rozvrh seminárních/paralelních skupin:
CMAf18/01: Rozvrh nebyl do ISu vložen.
CMAf18/02: Rozvrh nebyl do ISu vložen.
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je určen pouze studentům mateřských oborů.
Mateřské obory/plány
Anotace

The author: inspired genius, tormented obsessive, maverick within the uncaring system – or simply the world’s most valuable logo?

The concept of authorship is deeply rooted in the contemporary media culture, and both encapsulates and shapes much of the discourse around creativity and creative labour. Ideas of creative work as the expression of a single and singular genius date back to the Romantic movement in its search for the human spirit in the “age of mechanical reproduction” (Walter Benjamin, 1935), and have found their way to media scholarship with François Truffaut’s Politiques des auteurs (1955) Locating the author within the text, reading for themes and fixations, has become an omnipresent mode in media research, criticism and consumption.

Yet other strands and developments within academia and popular culture challenge this concept. The poststructuralism of Barthes and Foucault has questioned how authors are assigned and constructed in discourse. Media industry studies invite us to consider authorship as a value creation strategy and the author as a brand built through industrial marketing efforts. Feminist scholarship and the #MeToo movement challenge the inequal application and abusive potential of the genius myth. Finally, digital practices of remixing and “prosumption”, and the promise/threat of generative AI are causing us to revisit many ideas around creativity human and otherwise.

This lecture series will introduce and follow these strands to consider authorship and its discontents. We will historicize, contextualise and dismantle the concept of the author, challenging auteurism as an ideology to consider the author as a brand within the machine of promotion in the media industries. Through examples from historical and contemporary Hollywood, film, television, and new media storytelling, we will go in-depth into cultural discourses of creativity and creative work. We will examine how the media industries understand their own work – and the ideas communicated to audiences about this work. Through this we will explore how cultural discourses shape material realities of cultural production: how the idea of the genius shaped intellectual property laws and continues to shape whose work is valued; how author figures have played a role in the legitimation of cinema and later television as art, and their role in the ongoing upheaval of the  Streaming Wars; and the throughline between authorship, personal branding, and the difficult life of the social media content creator.

Výstupy z učení

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

 (1) Understand and use the concept of a cultural discourse, 

(2) Know the history of creativity and authorship as cultural discourses; 

(3) analyse the role of creativity and authorship discourses in the media industries; 

(4) Understand the concept and role of paratexts and promotional surround in contemporary Hollywood; 

(5) Critically read promotional and PR materials and analyse strategies of value creation.  

Klíčová témata

Session 1: Creativity: a cultural history

Reading: Foucault, Michel (1977). "What is an Author?" in: Donald F. Bouchard (ed.).Language, Counter-memory, Practice. Ithaca, New York: Cornel University Press,1977, pp. 113–138.

Screening: Shakespeare in Love (John Madden, 1998)

Session 2: The auteur comes to Hollywood

Reading: Sarris, Andrew (1963), ‘Notes on the auteur theory in 1962’, Film Culture, 27, pp. 1-9.

Petrie, Graham (1973), ‘Alternatives to Auteurs”, Film Quarterly, 26(3), 27-35

Screening: Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (Eleanor Coppola, Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper, 1991)

Session 3: The commerce of auteurism

Reading: Gray, Jonathan (2010). “Bonus materials: Digital auras and authors” in: Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts. New York: New York University Press, pp.81-116. Workshop: Reading paratexts and industrial reflexivity 

Session 4: Showrunners: the legitimation of television
Reading: Newman, Michael Z. and Levine, Elena (2012). “The showrunner as auteur” in: Legitimating Television: Media Convergence and Cultural Status. New York: Routledge, 2012, pp. 38-58.

Screening: The Sopranos (HBO, 1998-2007) S1E1 “Pilot”

Session 5: Gender and the genius myth

Reading: Nochlin, Linda (2021), "Why have there been no great women artists?" in: WhyHave There Been No Great Women Artists? 50th Anniversary Edition. New York:Thames & Hudson, 2021, pp. 20–81.

Margitu, Stefania (2018), ‘“It’s just art”: auteur apologism in the post-Weinstein era’, Feminist Media Studies, 18(3), 1-3.

Session 6: The creator brand in contemporary culture

Reading: Duffy, Brooke Erin, and Wissinger, Elizabeth (2017), ‘Mythologies of creative work in the social media age: Fun, free, and “just being me”’, International Journal of Communication, 11, 4652–4671. Workshop: What is the myth of creativity today?

Screening: Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda, 1961)

Přístupy, postupy a metody používané ve výuce
Six lectures of this short intensive course will take place in the week from April 13th - April 18th. Detailed schedule will be specified mid-March.
The course, as well as selected screenings, will take place in the screening room C34. Please note that student attendance is obligatory on all lectures and will be regularly checked. The attendance on screenings is highly recommended, but not obligatory.

Screenings: Thursday April 9th, from 14:00 to 18:00 in C34. We will be screening two films: Shakespeare in Love (1998, dir. John Madden) and Cléo de 5 á 7 (1961, dir. Agnés Varda).

Once the enrolment number reaches 74 or more, some students will have to take the classes online, through MS Teams. Further instructions regarding the capacities will be specified at the end of March, once the enrolment is closed.

Způsob ověření výstupů z učení a požadavky na ukončení
An open-book "test" consisting of three questions, each trio attached to a different deadline, and a homework vault. Each answer should be between 300 and 500 words, so the final word count should be between 900 and 1500. You must include a methodological framework in each answer.
You can write your answers in Czech, Slovak, or English.

To get an A grade, you must:
- Stay within the range with each answer
- Consult at least one piece of scholarship in each answer, preferably those from the reading list (but not limited to)
- Demonstrate a considerable depth of understanding of the topic as well as the ability to apply the key concepts when analysing a film or films, we will be screening throughout the course
- Use sophisticated and precise vocabulary and structure your answers (please no bullet points!)
- Have a near faultless typography and layout, plus exemplary citation and bibliography
Náhradní absolvování
Only for students of "Theory and history of cinema and AV culture" programme during their Erasmus stay abroad.
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Odkaz a informace vyučujících

Dr. Leora Hadas gained her PhD title at the University of Nottingham for her research on the subject of authorship as a promotional discourse in the U.S. media industries. Before joining the department at Nottingham she taught at the University of Shantou, Guangdong, China.

The focus of her academic career has been on the subject of value creation and negotiation, from both an industry- and audience studies perspectives. Her MA dealt with the transformation of fan communities in a digital participatory culture and the intersections of genre, authenticity, and identity for fandom. Her PhD examined media authorship as branding and the paratexual construction of author figures as celebrities and cultural legitimators in mainstream media including franchise blockbusters, broadcast television, and triple-A video games. Among her longterm research interests are industry-audience interactions, promotional content and culture, and cultural discourses of creativity and creative work. Her current interest is in environmental sustainability and the screen industries with a focus on the integration of "green" values and logics into production cultures. 

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