72810 - Media Cultures of Anglophone Countries (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student is able to learn the distinctive cultural elements of the media system in English-speaking countries, particularly in Great Britain.

Course contents

Beatles vs Rolling Stones

At the end of the Fifties, the so-called teenage revolution changed drastically the British culture and with it also the European culture. In addition to the revision of some categories used in the past to identify the cultural products and the idea of the culture itself, the teenage revolution offered to the younger generations the possibility of expressing themselves inside the cultural market and working opportunities in new areas, as the musical world. 

There was a clear contradiction between the attempt of seducing the younger generations into a consumerism world, because of the money they had and their willingness to spend it, and the new values, different from the traditional ones, expressed by a relevant part of the same public that were to be marginalised.

The band of the Rolling Stones, in the first decade of their life, with the marketing strategies of their producer, the media coverage of the alleged or real transgressions of the members of the band, the artistic products they inspired, its alleged antagonism with their rivals, the Beatles, could be taken as a good starting point in order to analyse the ambiguity of the teenage revolution.

Readings/Bibliography

Students are required to read the following texts: 

Roberto Bertinetti, Dai Beatles a Blair: la cultura inglese contemporanea, capp. 1, 2, 3, Roma, Carocci, 2001, pp. 7-86 

Iain Chambers, Urban Rhythms. Pop Music and Popular Culture, London, Macmillan, 1985, pp. 1-17,50-112

S. Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics: the creation of the mods and rockers, Oxford, Martin Robertson, 1980, pp. 9-26, 177-204

Dick Hebdige, Sottocultura, Genova, costa&nolan, 200, pp. 9-22

John McMillian, Beatles vs Stones, Bari, Laterza, 2016, chapters 5 and 6

Andre Millard, "The Anti-Beatles", in The Rolling Stones - Sociological Perspectives, edited by Helmut Staubmann, New York, Lexington Books, 2013, pp. 43-63

Gino Scatasta, "I libri dei Beatles", in mediAzioni, 27, 2020 (available in IOL)

Gino Scatasta, Swinging, swingeing, sleepy London: new entertainment for young people, forthcoming 

Raymond Williams, “Culture”, in Keywords, London, Fontana, 1980, pp. 76-82

The texts are available in the Library of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (via Cartoleria, 5), in the Library of the Arts Department (Via Barberia, 4) and in the photocopy shop of via Cartoleria

 

Students are also required to watch the following films:

The Loneliness of the long-distance runner (T. Richardson, 1962)

A Hard Day's Night (R. Lester, 1964)

Help (R. Lester, 1965)

Charlie is my Darling (P. Whitehead, 1966)

Performance (D. Cammell/N. Roeg, 1970)

Gimme Shelter (Albert & David Maysles, 1970)

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching methods

Due to the restrictions imposed by the current health emergency, teaching will be carried out, if possible, in a traditional didactic manner:
the teacher will always be present in the classroom designated for teaching, students will alternate in attendance according to a schedule of shifts being defined (more detailed information about the shift and how to access the lesson in attendance will be provided later). It will always be possible to connect remotely and follow live streaming of the lessons in the classroom via TEAMS platform.

Assessment methods

Oral exam (15-20 minutes).
In the oral exam the critical and methodological abilities of the students will be valued, as for the materials discussed and analysed during the course.

Teaching tools

Computer, projector.

Office hours

See the website of Gino Scatasta