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Migration in World Cinema

Module description

Transnational histories of migrants, the colonised, or refugees have been a major theme of World Cinema in the 21^st century. Each national cinema portrays migration at different times in different film forms and styles. In this module you will explore how films from different nations have dealt with cinema, introducing key critical and theoretical concepts in film studies. The focus of the module is on trends in films of each country and explore recurring themes such as stereotypes, rejection, integration and diversity. It is designed to enable students from a wide range of backgrounds such as Modern Languages, English, History, Politics and Philosophy to engage critically with some key ideas concerning filmic representation of migration and its aesthetic, cultural and socio-political contexts. Prior experience of film study is not necessary.

This module can count towards Spanish, Portuguese and French credits providing that you engage with material in the relevant language in your assessment.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• To enable you to debate and critique representations of migration within a range of cinematic cultures; to appreciate and understand a wide range of films; to understand the narrative and formal devices films use to articulate displacement, and the political and aesthetic consequences of this; to be able to apply a range of theoretical concerns to filmic representations of migration.
• To examine how a range of cinematic cultures portray the experience of migration and explore how stereotypes, rejection, integration, and diversity shape film narratives. In order to carry out textual analysis of case studies, you will draw upon theories relevant to the discussion of gender, postcoloniality, diversity, and race.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an informed understanding and detailed knowledge of the works studied on the module
• 2. Demonstrate an understanding of the films’ significance in the broader cultural context in which they were produced

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. After initial input from the course tutor(s), apply and evaluate critical approaches to the material under analysis independently
• 4. Argue at length and in detail about an aspect of the topic, supporting the argument with evidence from the text and with opinions from secondary literature

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument and a capacity to write clear and correct prose;
• 6. Through research, forum and/or seminar discussion, and essay writing demonstrate a capacity to question assumptions, to distinguish between fact and opinion, and to critically reflect on their own learning process.

Syllabus plan

In the module, you will look at films and migration with a global perspective, examining emigration and immigration films from Europe, Africa and Latin America. You will approach each film with close textual analysis, keeping in mind postcolonial theory and film theory as well as incorporating criticism. Recurring themes, such as gender and race are identified and discussed in those films. Through the analysis of cinematic representation of migration, you will be able to explore the global nature of the phenomenon.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Successful referred students will receive the maximum achievable mark of 40 for their essay. Successful deferred students will have their re-assessment treated as a first attempt, thus the full range of marks will be available.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Ezra, Elizabeth and Rowden, Terry. (eds), Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader. London: Routledge, 2006.
• Naficy, Hamid. An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking. Princeton University Press, 2001. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv346qqt. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.
• Shohat, Ella and Stam, Robert. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media (2nd ed.). Routledge, 2014.  

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Bayman, Louis and Pinazza, Natália. (eds), Journeys on Screen: Theory, Ethics, Aesthetics, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474421843
• Higbee, Will and Lim, Song Hwee. Concepts of transnational cinema: towards a critical transnationalism in film studies, 2010 Transnational Cinemas, 1:1, 7-21. DOI: 10.1386/trac.1.1.7/1
  
• https://www.kanopy.com/
• BoB (learningonscreen.ac.uk)

Key words search

Migration; World Cinema; Diaspora; emigration; immigration