The Metatheorical Reflection on Cinema as Research Texts and Teaching Tools of International Relations
Author: Ta-hua Mo
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
International relations scholars constructed a cognitive portray of the real international relations through popular culture. Because of the visual effects and easy access of popular culture modern scholars have tried to use popular movies as research texts and teaching tools so to provide a visualization of the virtual reality of international relations. This can reduce the barriers imposed by abstract theories and missing common experiences, and to present a new and different way of research and teaching. This article aims at exploring how scholars of international relations use popular movies as the channels between the real international world and the cognitively-constructed virtual world, and this virtual reality of international relations is then utilized to complement the research and teaching of international relations. Firstly, this article aims to explore the relationship between popular cultures (movies) and international relations. Secondly, it will explore the philosophical foundations of this interconnection between the real international world and the virtual world in popular culture. Thirdly, it will explore how scholars re-construct the world depicted by international relation theories with the virtual world in popular culture. Fourthly and fifthly, this article will explore, respectively, how popular movies are used as teaching tools and the pros and cons. Sixthly, it will explore Taiwanese IR scholars’ views on cinematic IR and current application of this in Taiwanese classrooms. Lastly, from metatheoretical perspective, this paper will critically map out some future directions.