HIS2423 – Reel Reality: Movies in 20th Century History

Course content

Why should historians study movies? This basic question is at the very heart of this course, which places moving images from the late 19th century to the present in their wider economic, social, political, and cultural contexts. Engaging with a variety of theoretical approaches, the course addresses the four main issues "production", "regulation", "meaning" and "consumption". Firstly, it follows the development of the film business in different countries to understand how technology, law and regulation, industry structure and labor shaped film content to a considerable extent. Secondly, the course highlights the various influences politics, the military, churches, and other social groups exerted on the production of movies, in particular on film contents that were often channeled and censored to fit specific political agendas and moral norms. Thirdly, the course focuses on selected genres and their meaning for our understanding of history. Fourthly, the course raises questions about cinema-going and audiences’ experience. How does movie-goers engage with films and make sense of them in the light of their own needs, expectations, and hopes? In what ways and to what extent does film condition the ways we perceive realities?

In our course, there will be particular emphasis on the analysis of primary sources which, in this instance, will include visual material such as movie posters and adverts, as well as a selection of films that are exemplary for the wider issues that we want to discuss in class. We will screen these movies at full length and analyze them with you.

Learning outcome

On successful completion of this course, you should be able to

  • recognize the principal developments in the history of film making, including key technological and industrial changes from 1880 until today
  • analyse a wide range of films and related textual and non-textual sources
  • critique relevant scholarly contributions to the field in the light of primary sources
  • develop, implement and finish a small historiographical research project in the form of a term paper

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

30 credits in humanities or social sciences.

A good ability to read and understand English is required for this course.

Overlapping courses