90767 - Aesthetics and Cultures of the Twentieth Century

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has the basic tools for understanding the general articulation of the main moments of XX century theoretical and practical culture that had a great impact non only on art experience, but on aesthetic experience as a whole; he/she can contextualize and interpret the main contents of the most relevant cultural currents both cronologically and in their interaction, with a specific focus on wide-spread aestheticity phenomena, and hence on the development of fashion; the studenti s able to deal with both textual and extra-textual relatively difficul materials.

Course contents

Title: The aesthetic legacy of the 20th century: From art to the everyday.

Following a path that will unfold through salient stages of the 20th century's artistic culture, the course aims at introducing essential elements and key concepts useful for understanding the current aesthetic dimension. A decisive aspect will be the phenomenon of aestheticization and the spreading of the aesthetic in the everyday life, where fashion plays a fundamental role.

Beginning: January, 2022.

Timetable: third period (second semester).

Classroom:

Readings/Bibliography

1) Y. Michaud, L’arte allo stato gassoso, nuova edizione italiana, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2019 (for those who read the text in Italian: use only this edition).

2) O. Naukkarinen, Prospettive di un’estetica del quotidiano, BUP, Bologna 2020.

3) G. Matteucci (ed.), Elementi per un’estetica del contemporaneo, BUP, Bologna 2017, pp. 81-104 only.

Non-attending students must also study:

- G. Matteucci (a cura di), Elementi per un’estetica del contemporaneo, BUP, Bologna 2017, pp. 5-45.

N.B.: The bibliography may change until the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures and classroom presentations by students.

Assessment methods

Overall written test and (if required by the teacher) an oral interview will cover the program listed in the bibliography.

In the oral interview the assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the material in the exam bibliography and his/her ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he/she displays significant errors in his/her understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

We will use power point slides concerning course's texts and topics.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Matteucci

See the website of Gioia Laura Iannilli