00932 - Contemporary History (A-L)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will acquire an outline of modern history, with a special attention to the social, cultural and political transformations, and the awareness of the complexity and problematic nature of the periodization principles. The student will also acquire a good knowledge of an important theme of the modern era, especially in relation to the historiography debate and the multiplicity of the sources. The student is able to analyze in an autonomous way documents, sources, and authors belonging to the contemporary World.

Course contents

Memory and Subjectivity
The course will focus on the main aspects of modern history, from which take shape cultural representations, lifestyles, geographies and balances of power that characterize the different ideas of Europe between the 19th and 20th centuries within a global context.

The reconstruction of the general historical frameworks will be integrated with a monographic course on Memory and Subjectivity: different kinds of witnessing and historical writing in subjective prospective (autobiographies, family biographies, research accounts) relating to the major social transformations sweeping Europe in the modern era will be examined.

 

The course will address the following topics:

• Modern history, history of the present time, sources and scale effects
• Memoirs, historical writing and political uses of history
• Industrial Revolution
• French Revolution and profiles of citizenship (gender, class, race)
• Napoleonic Europe
• Nation and nationalism
• Working class movements, socialism and internationalism
• Imperialism and imperial geographies
• Great War
• Soviet Revolution and International Communism
• Rise and development of Fascisms in Europe
• Crisis of the 1930s
• Stalinism
• New European order and new Mediterranean order
• Antifascist Europe and the Second World War
• Post-war period
• Geographies of the Cold War
• Long 1960sand social revolution
• Decolonization process
• Crisis of the 1970s
• Movements and political violence
• Transitions in southern Europe (Greece, Portugal, Spain)
• Neoliberal revolution
• Collapse of the Soviet system and revolutions in the East
• Globalization, fragmentation and new conflicts

Readings/Bibliography

Both attending and non-attending students are required to have a thorough knowledge of the following chapters of Handbooks:

A. Banti, L'età contemporanea: dalle rivoluzioni settecentesche all'imperialismo, Laterza
chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24

A. Banti, L'età contemporanea: dalla Grande guerra a oggi, Laterza
chapters 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

For more in-depth study of the history of the 20th century, the second Handbook can be replaced with: F. Bartolini, B. Bonomo, A. Gagliardi, Europe in the Twentieth Century. A history, Carocci 2020 [as an introduction to historical method also recommended: M. Bloch, Apologia della storia o Mestiere di storico, Einaudi 2009].

 

For attending students, in addition to the two Handbooks, the study of one of the following texts by Enzo Traverso will be required:

• E. Traverso, Il passato istruzioni per l’uso. Storia, memoria, politica, Ombre Corte, 2006
• E. Traverso, La tirannide dell’io. Scrivere il passato in prima persona, Laterza 2022.

+ a couple of texts from list A

(1 monograph and 1 narrative text, as an example of literary source or historical writing in subjective perspective).

In substitution of Traverso and List A texts, attending students may submit a written paper (min. 30.000 - max 40.000 characters) exploring one of the frameworks of the monograph course on Memory and Subjectivity, declined on a local scale. The sources and documents selected for the paper must be presented in class and discussed during the exam. More information will be provided during the first week of class.

 

For non-attending students, in addition to the two Handbooks, the study of the following texts will be required:

M. Mazower, Le ombre dell'Europa. Democrazie e totalitarismi del XX Secolo, Garzanti, 2009

+ a couple of texts from List A

(1 monograph and 1 narrative text, as an example of literary source or historical writing in subjective perspective).

 

List A

• B. Bagnato, L' Europa e il mondo. Origini, sviluppo e crisi dell'imperialismo coloniale, Mondadori Education-Le Monnier 2006 + M. Vargas Llosa, Il sogno del Celta, Einaudi 2011 (in alternativa: S. Hartman, Perdi la madre. Un viaggio lungo la rotta atlantica degli schiavi, Tamu, 2021)

• Antonio Gibelli, L'officina della guerra. La grande guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale, Bollati Boringhieri 2007 (1990) + H. Barbusse, Il fuoco, Eliot 2015

• E. Traverso, A ferro e a fuoco: la guerra civile europea 1914-1945, Bologna, il Mulino, 2007 +J.P. Sartre, Parigi occupata, Il melangolo 2020

• E. Gentile, Storia del Partito fascista: movimento e milizia: 1919-1922, Laterza, 2021 (in alternativa: J. Foot, Blood and Power. The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism, Bloomsbury 2022 o Fascist Warfare, 1922–1945. Aggression, Occupation, Annihilation, a cura di M. Alonso, A. Kramer, J. Rodrigo,Palgrave 2019) +V. De Grazia, Il perfetto fascista. Una storia d'amore, potere e moralità nell'Italia di Mussolini, Einaudi, 2022

• S. Lupo, Il fascismo. La politica in un regime totalitario, Donzelli 2005(in alternativa: P. Corner, La dittatura fascista. Consenso e controllo durante il Ventennio, Carocci 2018 o Il fascismo italiano. Storia e interpretazioni, a cura di Giulia Albanese, Carocci, 2021)+ A. Scurati, M. il figlio del secolo, Bompiani, 2018

• S. Pons, La rivoluzione globale. Storia del comunismo internazionale, Torino, Einaudi, 2012 + Vasilij Grossman, Tutto scorre..., Adelphi, 2010

• J. Chapoutot, Controllare e distruggere. Fascismo, nazismo e regimi autoritari in Europa (1918-1945), Einaudi 2015 + J. Cercas, Soldati di Salamina, Guanda 2012

• D. Bloxham, Lo sterminio degli ebrei. Un genocidio, Torino, Einaudi, 2010 + I. Jablonka, Storia dei nonni che non ho avuto. Uno storico sulle tracce della propria famiglia scomparsa ad Auschwitz, Mondadori 2013

• C. Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri 2006 (cap. 1, 4. 5, 6) + S. Luzzatto, Partigia. Una storia della Resistenza, Mondadori, 2013

• F. Romero, Storia della guerra fredda, Torino, Einaudi, 2009 + D. Trumbo, Lettere dalla guerra fredda. Il dramma del maccartismo, Bompiani 1977

• T. Judt, Postwar. La nostra storia 1945-2005, Introduzione, capp. XII – XIII e Parte III Intervallo (1971-1989), Laterza 2020 + L. Passerini, Autoritratto di gruppo, Giunti 2008 (1988)

• T. Judt, Postwar. La nostra storia 1945-2005, Introduzione e capp. XVIII-XIX e Parte IV Dopo la caduta (1989-2005), Laterza 2020 + G. Grass, Da una Germania all’altra. Diario 1990, Einaudi 2012

Teaching methods

The course will alternate frontal lessons with moments of discussion with students and analysis of sources. In order to stimulate a dynamic debate and active participation, students will be invited to prepare speeches on specific topics.

Assessment methods

Verification of learning will take place through oral examination.

In order to pass the exam, the student will have to demonstrate to:

• know the main events of contemporary history between '800 and '900
• recognize the essential characteristics of transitions in European history
• be able to compare historical witnessing in different spatial and temporal contexts, identifying characteristics and specific relevance.

Contribute to the final grade:

• Mastery of subject content
• Ability to deal with the required topics in a cross-cutting and critical way
• Correctness, clarity, synthesis and fluency of expression
• Appropriate use of the specific language of the discipline, themes and authors
• Capacity of autonomous and personal re-elaboration of contents

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 subject 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 subject 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 displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology

Teaching tools

Written, literary, iconographic, and video sources as a starting point for presentation of topics and for discussion with students.

Office hours

See the website of Toni Rovatti