93329 - Mass Society, Communication and Popular Cultures (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have a critical knowledge of the main kinds of source for analysing mass society. They will have a basic ability to apply methodology to studying communication phenomena, familiar with the historiographic debate as well as with the ways of analysing cultural processes. They will make critical use of the main information search tools, weighing their impact on society and culture. They will have mastered the basic tools for appraising popular culture. Working independently and in an orderly fashion, they will have acquired self-criticism and an ability to learn from mingling with others; they will also know how to choose the learning tools best suited to their own skills and purposes.

Course contents

The course analyzes the formation and growth of mass society, focusing on the period from the second industrialisation of the late nineteenth century to the reconstruction after World War II, till the early 1960s, in Europe and in America.
Particular attention will be paid to phenomena of social stratification and popular and cultural expression arising from the growth of large urban agglomerations on those continents. The period between the two world wars: the 1920s and 1930s, will be the "case study", looking at these decades through essentially the lens defined by three issues: the generational question, in particular in the relationship between young people and adults after the First World War; associationism and practices linked to the use of the leisure time, also finalized to  the creation of political  consensus; and finally the emergence of sports in contemporary societies. History of youth, history of leisure time,  history of sport and, linked to these themes, the organisation of consensus by democratic and authoritarian-totalitarian regimes in the 1930s  are therefore at the heart of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

Provisional bibliography:

P. Dogliani, Storia dei giovani, Bruno Mondadori, 2003

P. Dogliani, Il fascismo degli italiani, Una storia sociale, De Agostini, 2014, capp. 5 e 6.

D. Forgacs - St. Gundle, Cultura di massa e società italiana, 1936-1954, il Mulino, 2007

M. Carli, Vedere il fascismo. Arte e politica nelle esposizioni del regime (1928-1942), Carocci, 2021

A. Corbin, L'invenzione del tempo libero, 1850-1960, 1996, parti da scegliere

G. Levi- JC Schmitt ( a cura di) Storia dei giovani, 2. età contemporanea, Laterza, 1994, saggi di Malvano, Michaud, Passerini

C. Papa, L'Italia giovane dall'Unità al fascismo, Laterza, 2013

Jon Savage, L'invenzione dei giovani, Feltrinelli, 2009, dalla parte terza alla settima comprese.

Eric Hobsbawm, L’età degli Imperi- The Age of Empire (1876)

(a cura di Eric Hobsbawm e T. Ranger) L’Invenzione della tradizione (1987), in part. l’ultimo capitolo.

George Mosse, La nazionalizzazione delle masse . Simbolismo politico e movimenti di massa in Germania,1812-1933 (1975)

V. De Grazia, L'impero irresistibile. La società dei consumi americana alla conquista del mondo, Einaudi, 2005 

Ph. Cannistraro, La fabbrica del consenso. Fascismo e Mass Media, Laterza, 1975

Teaching methods

Front lessons and creation of indipendent group for reading and discussion of documents and videos

Assessment methods

A final paper, which can be written also in English, in French or in Spanish. 

Only those who have attended at least 70 percent of the course are considered attending students (frequentanti).

The exam is ONLY written for those attending and written and oral for those not attending. The student reads an average of 4 recommended readings (including books and essays) and identifies a topic for further study, submitting a final paper,  which can be written also in English, in French or in Spanish.

All students are required to produce a paper of about 15 pages (2000/2200 characters per page), which in the first part summarizes the required readings ( attending students may summarize from their notes the topics covered by the lectures they have attended) and in the second part illustrates the chosen topic. The paper should be sent to the lecturer at least 5 days before the exam. The lecturer will propose a grade and if that grade does not reach 25/30 she will ask the student to appear for an oral test. Non-attending students, on the other hand, are required to attend an oral exam anyway in which they will discuss their written paper, and the readings.
ssessment: the student's attainment of an organic view of the topics covered in class and of the knowledge provided for the discipline jointly with their critical use, the demonstration of a mastery of expression and specific language will be assessed with grades from 27 to 30L.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject matter and skills of synthesis and analysis articulated in correct but not always appropriate language will lead to fair grades of 23 to 26.
Formative gaps and/or inappropriate language, albeit in the context of minimal knowledge of the examination material, will lead to grades that barely exceed sufficiency. The instructor, in the presence of formative gaps and a visible lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials provided by the course, assessable by a barely sufficient grade, will suggest that the student(s) retake the exam.

Teaching tools

Readings and Media

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Dogliani