Aims

The students shall be able to give an interpretation of the semantics of history. That is to say, they shall examine a series of historical facts and their relative representations coherently (with an emphasis on works of literature and iconographic expressions).
Students shall be able to compare various historical documents, be they graphic, literary, journalistic, or on film (fictional or documentary).
The course aims to develop the students' autonomy when doing research, as well as to develop their awareness of Italian culture, by enabling them to recognize its distinctive traits.

Main themes

Analysis of the image of the Italians throughout history and contemporary culture, with an eye to its development in a European frame:
Nationalism in the early XX century;
fascism and nationalism: filmology, legends and persuasive arguments;
the image of Italy in the documentaries by the Istituto LUCE
the image of Italy in American documentaries from the second world war (J.Huston: war films)
analysis of the current social and political situation through comparison of newspaper articles, photographic documents and audiovisual material.

Content and teaching methods

The course examines various moments of Italian history in a European frame, by comparing written and audiovisual sources.
Main themes:
- Nationalism at the beginning of the XIX century; fascism and nationalism; the strategic use of a nationalist ideology to unify a multicultural country.
- Analysis of a film used for propaganda in 1936 "camicia nera"
- The image of Italy in documentaries by the Istituto Luce, and in documentary footage from the American Army Archive(1943).
- Women, society and politics.

Current social and political situation through newspapers, documentaries, life stories taken from various Italian regions.
From a methodological viewpoint, the aim is to learn to compare information deriving from different sources.
A written report (8.000 characters) on a given topic is required at the end of the course.
The course is delivered in very accessible Italian, and all possible means are employed to overcome possible difficulties in communication.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Requirements: intermediate knowledge of spoken and written Italian.
Marking: in view of the exam, each student shall develop a personal study, which coherently shows the relation between an important theme of Italian history and the expressions used in journalism and/or film. The topic can be chosen freely among those seen during the course. A written report (8.000 characters) is required of the students.
During the second half of the course, each student will do an oral presentation. If the level of this presentation is not adequate, either due to the linguistics or to the methodology, the student will be able to compensate his weaknesses by means of a new assignment to be agreed upon with the teacher.
Support: the lessons will be developed using a hypothetical-deductive demonstration, and by comparing written and iconographic documents from the XIX century (literary, journalistic, photographic sources)
Other: reading of books, newspapers, film and documentary analysis will be suggested.

Other credits in programs